Transgender Parenthood: Gender Does Not Make a Parent

Abstract

This chapter from my recent book “The Right to be Parents: LGBT Families and the Transformation of Parenthood” explores the legal challenges faced by transgender parents. Lawsuits involving such parents can be divided into two broad categories. The first is composed of disputes in which the main issue is whether the gender identity of transgender parents affects their ability to be good parents. The chapter profiles cases in which transgender parents have battled in the courts to maintain relationships with their children in the face of claims by former spouses that their identification with a gender other than their biological one renders them unfit parents. The chapter explains that trangender parents in some ways face even greater challenges than lesbian and gay ones because they are at greater risk of having their parental rights terminated altogether.

In addition, transgender individuals, like lesbians and gay men, sometimes find themselves needing to persuade courts that they should be deemed parents of children whom they helped raise but with whom they lack biological connections. The chapter therefore also profiles parenting cases in which transgender individuals have sought to have their relationships with their children legally recognized despite the absence of biological links. As with many lawsuits involving lesbians and gay men, parenting disputes involving transgender individuals falling under this second category of cases have grappled with the fundamental question of what makes a parent. The chapter criticizes judicial efforts to link parentage status to the gender of parents. In doing so, the chapter calls for the degendering of parenthood.

Keywords: custody, de facto parents, functional parenthood, gender, lesbian and gay parents, parenthood, termination of parental rights, transgender parents, visitation