Toward Inclusivity in Family Narratives: Counter-Stories from Queer Multi-Parent Families

While literature on gay and lesbian families has increased in the past two decades, much of the literature is shrouded in the Western, heteronormative notion that a family equates to a unit with two parents and children. Even though this norm is not the reality for many families, outdated notions of family persist. This article shares the findings from an in-depth qualitative study of five queer individuals who constructed multi-parent families. Their counternarratives challenge narrow heteronormative notions of family and offer inspiration to anyone interested in creating a family that includes multiple parents. Common themes among their familial experiences included creativity, time, and effort in familial construction; communication and compromise among multiple parents; parenting outside the norm; and sharing counter-narratives as activism.