Graduation Year

2019

Document Type

Thesis

Degree

M.A.

Degree Name

Master of Arts (M.A.)

Degree Granting Department

Anthropology

Major Professor

Elizabeth Miller, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Nancy Romero-Daza, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Daniel Lende, Ph.D.

Keywords

Assisted Reproductive Technology, LGBTQ kinship, US Family Policy, adoption, social justice

Abstract

This small-scale ethnographic study looks at the how queer women living in Florida imagine navigating family building decisions under the current climate of policies such as a lack of federal non-discrimination protections and the largely unregulated use of assisted reproductive technologies. Despite the federal legalization of same-sex marriage in the United States in 2015, state and county legislations continue to vary greatly on the extent of support they will provide for LGBTQ families. The goal of this research is to evaluate parenting desire, intentions, and preferences for queer women living in Tampa Bay since the passage of the Marriage Equality Act in 2015. Eight semi-structured interviews were conducted with self-identified queer women who have lived in the Tampa Bay area for at least a year since 2015. Queer family planning needs are not homogenous, and this research is not generalizable to the entire population of LGBTQ individuals in the U.S. because of local and legal nuances. However, this research may be relevant to inform state and national policies as other states and countries begin to offer the protections, rights, and avenues to strengthen LGBTQ relationships and promote healthy families.

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