Intimate Relationship Challenges in Early Parenthood among Lesbian, Gay, and Heterosexual Couples Adopting via the Child Welfare System.

Little research has examined the transition to parenthood among couples who adopt through the child welfare system. The current qualitative study of 84 individuals within 42 couples (17 lesbian, 13 gay, and 12 heterosexual), who were placed with a child via foster care three months earlier, examined perceived changes in their intimate relationship. Findings indicated that, like heterosexual biological-parent couples, some adoptive parents perceived the loss of their partner's undivided attention as stressful to the relationship.

"When You're Sitting on the Fence, Hope's the Hardest Part": Challenges and Experiences of Heterosexual and Same-Sex Couples Adopting Through the Child Welfare System.

Foster-to-adopt families can be viewed as systems that are influenced by many other systems (e.g., the legal system, the social service agency, and the birth family).

Why Parenthood, and Why Now?: Gay Men's Motivations for Pursuing Parenthood.

The current qualitative study of 35 pre-adoptive gay male couples (70 men) examined gay men's motivations to parent and their reasons for pursuing parenthood at the current time. Similar to heterosexual couples, gay men described a range of psychologically-oriented reasons as shaping their decision to become parents. Some of these (e.