Review author: Richard A. Sprott, PhD
Summary: I am also familiar with psychosocial stages and some special concerns for LGBTQ+ folk as they navigate those stages, and with health disparities for LGBTQ+ people at all stages of life. I am less familiar with assisted reproduction issues, and issues around citizenship status, so these were new to me.
Citation: N. L. Segal (2023). Gay Fathers, Twin Sons. The Citizenship Case That Captured the World, Lanham, MD:Rowman & Littlefield (276 pages).
Before I began reading Gay Fathers, Twin Sons, I had four expectations:
- To see some discussion and reports from the literature on assisted reproduction issues, and challenges specific to gay men;
- To learn about the differences among nations on citizenship for lesbian/gay/bisexual folks;
- To hear about motivations for parenting among gay men;
- To see how stigma affects family dynamics for same-sex parents and their children.
Each of these expectations was met to my satisfaction.
The first two chapters discuss the life course of the two gay fathers, Andrew and Elad, before they met. There are periodic reflections on the interaction of genetics and environment when discussing the temperaments of both men; and there is special attention to important events and relationships that fostered interests in travel, attitudes to their Jewish heritage, and struggles with their sexual identity development. All of these are elements in a portrayal that explains how two people raised 8,000 miles apart would eventually meet up and become life partners.
The third chapter describes the wedding and early part of married life for Andrew and Elad. The fourth chapter discusses the decision to have children and the technological options for assisted reproduction. There is also an interesting section on the notable diversity among twins, in terms of genetic parentage—as with other biological topics. Going through the details allows the reader to appreciate just how much diversity is possible, even if many differences are not acknowledged or understood by a culture.
The fifth and sixth chapters discuss the story of Andrew and Elad’s first encounter with trouble in terms of the legal status of their children and immigration policies, and expand on the issues that demonstrate how nations can classify children as legal strangers to their parents. Chapters seven and eight discuss the legal battles and the resolution of the legal conflicts around same-sex parents, surrogacy, assisted reproduction, and the citizenship of their children.
There is some description in these chapters about the work of Immigration Equalityopens in new window, which is dedicated to addressing issues of immigration and citizenship for LGBTQ people. This organization was instrumental in bringing lawsuits to get the U.S. government to change its policies in cases like this.
The remaining chapters discuss and reflect on the resolution of the lawsuits and the ways in which Andrew and Elad’s family survived and thrived during these times. Questions for academic and scientific inquiry around these issues is provided as a capstone to this in-depth case study.
On a more critical note, the book does not explore new concepts or theories about sexuality or parenting, except for one: the idea of “assortative cross-parenting.” It is related to a concept introduced by the author called assortative parenting, where the similarity in characteristics (appearance, personality) between a parent and child leads to a certain “affinity or identification with that child over another” (p. 188). Assortative cross-parenting is having a certain affinity for a child due to the child having characteristics of one’s partner. Nancy Segal notes that this is not the same thing as favoritism. A fuller description of these concepts can be found in a recent article (Segal, 2024).
Overall, the book is very clearly written and organized, and well integrated across the chapters. I can see it being useful for a course that addresses or includes the topics of assisted reproduction and/or parenting among gay male couples.