#queer parenting

[vaspider]

I just wanted to say that I really like your addition to that "your children decided if you're a good parent or not" post. I just became a parent and I feel the same way/ identify with what you said about your upbringing. May I ask if you have any advice for queer parents?

Thank you for your kind words. <3

Mostly it's the same that I'd have for any other parent with the addition of:

How you respond to bigots in front of your child models how your child will respond to bigots for the rest of their lives. If you "make nice" with bigots in front of your child for the sake of not fighting in front of your kid, that's what you are modeling for your child. If you can't stand up for yourself for yourself, stand up for yourself because you need to teach your kid that it's okay for them to stand up to bullies. If necessary, think about some of the comments you have gotten in the past and might get in the future, and think of scripted responses ahead of time so that you have a little cache of potential answers. You can stand up for yourself and take the high road at the same time -- you don't need to be ready to throw down in a Joann parking lot. Responses like "That's not an appropriate thing to say," or "is that how you teach your children to treat people?" or "My seven-year-old knows that's not an acceptable thing to say to another person" work just fine. And sometimes standing up for yourself looks like ignoring people.

Make time for debrief after Incidents. Check in with your kid once you're safe if someone yells slurs at your family.

Mom and Dad are not gender-locked titles but roles, and you get to decide what title you have and what that title means.

Kids twig pretty quickly onto adult discomfort, so the best thing that you can do for yourself and your kids is to stomp hard on the little voice in the back of your head that might tell you that talking about your queerness with your kids is anything more scandalous than straight adults talking with kids about relationships and het marriage. Girls kissing girls is no more scandalous or wrong than girls kissing boys, boys having a first-grade boyfriend is no more scandalous than a first-grade playground het "relationship." So if your kid asks you about your dating life, just ... answer in an age-appropriate way like you would if you were a cishet parent.

You are probably going to have to have a lot more conversations with your kid than a comparable cishet parent will about the way that people can be cruel, or upsetting situations. That sucks, but the good news is that this gives you an opportunity to build a relationship with your kid such that when they run into Big Problems later on, the two of you have already talked about so much that they know they can talk to you.

Make sure you have a therapist or religious figure that you can talk to when shit gets hard. That's just good for any parents. Your kids don't need to see how hard things are for you, and they definitely can't and shouldn't carry any of the weight of your life.

#asks #queer parenting

[reasonsforhope]

"Scientists have created mice with two biological fathers by generating eggs from male cells, a development that opens up radical new possibilities for reproduction.

The advance could ultimately pave the way for treatments for severe forms of infertility, as well as raising the tantalising prospect of same-sex couples being able to have a biological child together in the future.

“This is the first case of making robust mammal oocytes [a.k.a. egg cells] from male cells,” said Katsuhiko Hayashi, who led the work at Kyushu University in Japan and is internationally renowned as a pioneer in the field of lab-grown eggs and sperm.

Hayashi, who presented the development at the Third International Summit on Human Genome Editing at the Francis Crick Institute in London on Wednesday, predicts that it will be technically possible to create a viable human egg from a male skin cell within a decade. Others suggested this timeline was optimistic given that scientists are yet to create viable lab-grown human eggs from female cells.

Previously scientists have created mice that technically had two biological fathers through a chain of elaborate steps, including genetic engineering. However, this is the first time viable eggs have been cultivated from male cells and marks a significant advance. Hayashi’s team is now attempting to replicate this achievement with human cells, although there would be significant hurdles for the use of lab-grown eggs for clinical purposes, including establishing their safety.

“Purely in terms of technology, it will be possible [in humans] even in 10 years,” he said, adding that he personally would be in favour of the technology being used clinically to allow two men to have a baby if it were shown to be safe.

“I don’t know whether they’ll be available for reproduction,” he said. “That is not a question just for the scientific programme, but also for [society].”

The technique could also be applied to treat severe forms of infertility, including women with Turner’s syndrome, in whom one copy of the X chromosome is missing or partly missing, and Hayashi said this application was the primary motivation for the research.

Others suggested that it could prove challenging to translate the technique to human cells. Human cells require much longer periods of cultivation to produce a mature egg, which can increase the risk of cells acquiring unwanted genetic changes.

Prof George Daley, the dean of Harvard Medical School, described the work as “fascinating”, but added that other research had indicated that creating lab-grown gametes from human cells was more challenging than for mouse cells. “We still don’t understand enough of the unique biology of human gametogenesis to reproduce Hayashi’s provocative work in mice,” he said.

Study Methods

The study, which has been submitted for publication in a leading journal, relied on a sequence of intricate steps to transform a skin cell, carrying the male XY chromosome combination, into an egg, with the female XX version.

Male skin cells were reprogrammed into a stem cell-like state to create so-called induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells. The Y-chromosome of these cells was then deleted and replaced by an X chromosome “borrowed” from another cell to produce iPS cells with two identical X chromosomes.

“The trick of this, the biggest trick, is the duplication of the X chromosome,” said Hayashi. “We really tried to establish a system to duplicate the X chromosome.”

Finally, the cells were cultivated in an ovary organoid, a culture system designed to replicate the conditions inside a mouse ovary. When the eggs were fertilised with normal sperm, the scientists obtained about 600 embryos, which were implanted into surrogate mice, resulting in the birth of seven mouse pups. The efficiency of about 1% was lower [although not THAT much lower] than the efficiency achieved with normal female-derived eggs, where about 5% of embryos went on to produce a live birth.

The baby mice appeared healthy, had a normal lifespan, and went on to have offspring as adults. “They look OK, they look to be growing normally, they become fathers,” said Hayashi.

Going Further

He and colleagues are now attempting to replicate the creation of lab-grown eggs using human cells.

Prof Amander Clark, who works on lab-grown gametes at the University of California Los Angeles, said that translating the work into human cells would be a “huge leap”, because scientists are yet to create lab-grown human eggs from female cells.

Scientists have created the precursors of human eggs, but until now the cells have stopped developing before the point of meiosis, a critical step of cell division that is required in the development of mature eggs and sperm. “We’re poised at this bottleneck at the moment,” she said. “The next steps are an engineering challenge. But getting through that could be 10 years or 20 years.”

-via The Guardian (US), 3/8/23

#genetics #gene editing #genetic engineering #reproductive care #infertility #infertility cw #ivf #science and technology #lgbtq #oocytes #gametes #turner syndrome #queer parenting #good news #hope

[bettyshoweduptotheparty]

I just love knowing that these

were taken by one of these two women

Queer women just know how to photograph women for the sapphic gaze 😍😍

(And ps I just know that a sapphic woman who has family photos like these on her website would have taken cute couple and family photos of karlie’s family that adorn the walls of their home and I love that 🥰)

#kaylor #queer families #wlw couples #queer parenting #lesbian #rainbow family

[o-dandelion-o]

🌙💜 Luna 💜🌙

Daughter of Positron and Negatron 🐣 I wanted her to have traits from both of Posi and Nega. But the Swedish black duck influenced her design too. I have several scenarios of how it turned possible for two males to get a baby but I haven’t decided which one yet 🦆

I’m still open for commissions ☺️

#darkwing duck #o-dandelion-o #ducktales 2017 #fanart #original character #darkwing duck oc #ducktales oc #oc #darkwing duck fanart #ducktales fanart #dwd oc #dwd #dwd fanart #queer parenting #positron #posiduck #negatron #digital drawing #digital art

[alwaysinbetweeninsaneandinsecure]

This family is currently unhoused as they attempt to flee Ohio for their safety as LGBTQ+ people. Please help keep this person and their children safe.

Please give if you can and share!

#lgbtq #lgbtq community #lgbtqia #lgbtqplus #queer #queer community #queer parenting #anti trans #important #love #humanity #humanitarian aid #humanitarian crisis #human rights #ohio #ohio news #us politics #us news #black lives matter #black lives are important #black lives have always mattered #trans pride #pride #lgbt pride

[mombian]

Minnie Bruce Pratt, an acclaimed poet, essayist, and activist who wrote, among other things, about losing custody of her children when she came out as a lesbian, died on July 4 of an aggressive brain tumor at age 76. Read on for more about her life and her experience of lesbian motherhood.

#lgbtq families #lgbtq family #queer family #lgbtq parents #queer families #queer parenting #queer parents #lgbtq parenting #lgbtq history #queer history #lesbian

[wrathofthestag]

When you and your kid are both bi:

#bisexuality #bisexuality awareness week #queer parenting

[apollolewis]

A thing to add to the list of stuff I won’t have to worry about for about 10 years or so, but I do. What will my kids call me when I have them. Will I go with mom or dad or maybe both. I’m not really sure, like I’m not openly gender-fluid in the way some people are, mostly people don’t know but I don’t really hide it, I might be when I’m in my late 20s early 30s though. Could also depend on who I marry, if I marry a woman I might go with dad, if I marry a man I might go with mom. If I marry a non binary person I flip a coin. Another person who identifies as both male and female, we’re having a duel to figure it out.

#future #future plans #future kids #parenting #lgbtq #genderfluid #gender expression #queer parenting #lgbt #lgbtqia #I might also be in a situation where I’m a single parent so I’ll just flip a coin depending on how old the kids I adopt are

[thatstormygeek]

I'm really thankful I saved the entire thread when I saw it back in 2020. It spoke to me then and still resonates now. Especially after years of people like me being derided as "theyby."

#elle maruska #twitter #nonbinary #elder queers #elders of the interwebs #queer parenting #trans parents #parents are people too #image described in alt

[skepticalmuppet]

If you have a trans/enby kid you might have to pick out the stitches on their personalized Christmas stocking and relabel it with their new name four years in a row because they couldn’t decide, and you need to do that without comment or judgement because the alternative might be that you just have an empty stocking stashed in your attic unused because the kid you made it for is never coming home again.

#queer parenting

[darlingillustrations]

New chore for my 8yo kid: taking product photographs. (I pay her for each one).

What do y'all think? How is she doing??

#darling illustrations #queer art #queer artist #queer parenting #artist mom #furry art

[butchbento]

I was sleepy and running a little late this morning, so the bento wound up being a bit of a slapdash affair. Spiced carrots from the tacos my wife made last night, balsamic mozzarella pearls, snow peas, sesame star crackers, plus crispy seaweed, an apple, and the prepackaged snacks mentioned in the previous post.

And now I'm eating an eggancheezonnaroll and drinking Bodega coffee like a proper New Yorker while waiting for the rest of the troop to arrive.

#bento #queer parenting #I heart New York

[jompsjnngurdsn]

I would love more than anything to say that this comic is fiction, but...well, here we are.

#vampigeon #webcomic #parenting #queer parenting

[lavndrsnailgoo]

reconciling being too small to speak to the big - and being too big to write small

i am just a person

i am a person

i am a person who birthed children

who held babies

who fears for those babies

as they grow

who wants them to live and thrive

i am a person

who wakes up

and wants to feel energized

who wants teeth that don't ache

and hair that looks ok

i am a person

and bombs are not dropping on my home

or the home where i grew up

or the people i grew up with

no one is calling me

asking if i have seen my daughter's teacher

or my uncle

or the teen that recognized me at my favorite restaurant last week

my favorite restaurant still stands

the hospital is slow and sometimes scary

but it is taking emergencies

a place to go

if someone is bleeding, or not breathing,

or hurt beyond something i can fathom

i am a person, in my person life

and so are the people in Gaza

and the people killed after the concert

and the people doing the killing

and planning the killing

and building stories and articles and politics around the killing

i believe this is the fruits of apartheid

i want this to break my heart

i don't know how to live in this world

while the news looks as it does

and also, i do it every single day

and that frightens me

to carry on like its every day

frightens me

the world is shifting in its soul

every single moment

and whatever comes next

comes next.

#watermelon #ceasefire now #queer parenting #exmormon #queer poetry #dealing with grief #coming alive #in process

[mombian]

As we close out LGBTQ History Month, I want to highlight some documentaries that look at the history of LGBTQ parents and our children and are available for streaming—several for free! Watch trailers (and in some cases, whole films), and find streaming info:

#lgbtq families #lgbtq family #queer family #lgbtq parents #queer families #queer parenting #queer parents #lgbtq parenting #lgbtq history #lgbtq history month #queer history

[gayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy]

Heyo, parents of queer kids! If your kid just came out to you, it's okay to not immediately be okay with it. It's normal, it's a readjustment of how you see your kid, of course it's going to take you some time.

The important thing is that they are still your kid and you still obviously love them. You might not have the same milestones or activities you dreamed of having with them, but they are still there, ready to have so many more experiences. You can have ice cream or road trips or new activities that fit their interests more, your relationship is still okay!

As long as you don't intentionally hurt them, you're doing fine. Obviously you'd want to be actively supporting them but it takes time for some people. The more you learn, the more you two still hang out, you'll see it's just one part of your kid.

Ask them questions, read some things online, there is tons of support out there.

One show I'd recommend is "One Day at a Time." It's a sitcon, it's hilarious and it deals with heavy topics like war ptsd, coming out, sobriety, immigration and so much more in a really professional and heartfelt way and can still keep it lighthearted. Specifically I'd recommend the episode "Pride and Prejudice" where the mom deals with this exact situation.

Growth takes time and that includes your relationship. Be kind to yourself and your kid x You're doing just fine.

#parents #parenting #queer experience #coming out #coming out advice #queer parenting #growth #be kind to yourself #it takes time