Diverse Pathways to Parenthood: From Narratives to Practice is a timely contribution to the study of reproduction and parenthood. Drawing on a wide breadth of projects, this book covers topics such as first time parents, donor conception, pregnancy loss, surrogacy, lesbian, gay and/or transgender parenting, fostering and adoption, grandparenting, and human/animal kinship. By presenting individual narratives focused on reproduction and parenthood, this book successfully translates empirical research into practical, applied outcomes that will be of use for all those working in the fields of reproduction and parenthood. Including recommendations for fertility specialists, educators, child protection agencies, reproductive counselors, and policy makers, Diverse Pathways to Parenthood: From Narratives to Practice is a vital new resource that will help guide practice into the future. As a contribution to the field of critical kinship studies, this book heralds new directions for the study of kinship, by revisiting as well as reimagining how we think about, research, and respond to a diversity of kinship forms. - Includes over 70 narratives representative of hundreds of interviews collected as a part of 15 research projects undertaken over the past decade - Supported by a companion website that provides further materials and information: www.diversepathways.com - Translates critical kinship studies theory into applied tools for practice in the fields of reproduction and parenthood

Pathways to Parenthood is a how-to guide to Surrogacy. It covers Gestational Surrogacy via IVF as well as Traditional Surrogacy via Artificial Insemination. The mystery that surrounds Surrogacy is demystified and everything is broken down into layman's terms. This book will take you from deciding if Surrogacy is the right path for you, to contact with your surrogate after the delivery and everything in between. You will learn about the legal, medical, as well as the emotional aspects of choosing Surrogacy as your pathway to parenthood. You will be given the pros and cons of using an agency as well as going about it on your own.

This volume explores the transition to parenthood from a holistic developmental approach, relating to barriers such as fertility problems and traumatic childbirth, as well as pathways such as positive experiences of pregnancy and childbirth. It presents an extended process, beginning with infertility issues, continuing with subjects pertaining to decisions regarding parenthood, pregnancy and birth, and ending with the early stages of parenthood from a positive psychology perspective. The volume draws on theories of resilience, meaning, terror management, and attachment, and considers psychological, sociological, legal, policy, medical, and therapy issues. It relates to the developmental needs of individuals and couples, as well as to the role played by family, society, and the media, offering a comprehensive in-depth evaluation of the latest topics.

Aims to guide prospective parents through the complicated mazes of assisted reproduction and adoption. This work describes fertility assistance, surrogacy, and adoption, clearly outlining the requirements of each strategy. It compares the medical, emotional, financial, and legal investments and risks involved with each of these options.

Decades of research have demonstrated that the parent-child dyad and the environment of the familyâ€"which includes all primary caregiversâ€"are at the foundation of children's well- being and healthy development. From birth, children are learning and rely on parents and the other caregivers in their lives to protect and care for them. The impact of parents may never be greater than during the earliest years of life, when a child's brain is rapidly developing and when nearly all of her or his experiences are created and shaped by parents and the family environment. Parents help children build and refine their knowledge and skills, charting a trajectory for their health and well-being during childhood and beyond. The experience of parenting also impacts parents themselves. For instance, parenting can enrich and give focus to parents' lives; generate stress or calm; and create any number of emotions, including feelings of happiness, sadness, fulfillment, and anger. Parenting of young children today takes place in the context of significant ongoing developments. These include: a rapidly growing body of science on early childhood, increases in funding for programs and services for families, changing demographics of the U.S. population, and greater diversity of family structure. Additionally, parenting is increasingly being shaped by technology and increased access to information about parenting. Parenting Matters identifies parenting knowledge, attitudes, and practices associated with positive developmental outcomes in children ages 0-8; universal/preventive and targeted strategies used in a variety of settings that have been effective with parents of young children and that support the identified knowledge, attitudes, and practices; and barriers to and facilitators for parents' use of practices that lead to healthy child outcomes as well as their participation in effective programs and services. This report makes recommendations directed at an array of stakeholders, for promoting the wide-scale adoption of effective programs and services for parents and on areas that warrant further research to inform policy and practice. It is meant to serve as a roadmap for the future of parenting policy, research, and practice in the United States.

Lone parenthood is an increasing reality in the 21st century, reinforced by the diffusion of divorce and separation. This volume provides a comprehensive portrait of lone parenthood at the beginning of the XXI century from a life course perspective. The contributions included in this volume examine the dynamics of lone parenthood in the life course and explore the trajectories of lone parents in terms of income, poverty, labour, market behaviour, wellbeing, and health. Throughout, comparative analyses of data from countries as France, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Germany, Belgium, Sweden, Switzerland, Hungary, and Australia help portray how lone parenthood varies between regions, cultures, generations, and institutional settings. The findings show that one-parent households are inhabited by a rather heterogeneous world of mothers and fathers facing different challenges. Readers will not only discover the demographics and diversity of lone parents, but also the variety of social representations and discourses about the changing phenomenon of lone parenthood. The book provides a mixture of qualitative and quantitative studies on lone parenthood. Using large scale and longitudinal panel and register data, the reader will gain insight in complex processes across time. More qualitative case studies on the other hand discuss the definition of lone parenthood, the public debate around it, and the social and subjective representations of lone parents themselves. This book aims at sociologists, demographers, psychologists, political scientists, family therapists, and policy makers who want to gain new insights into one of the most striking changes in family forms over the last 50 years. This book is open access under a CC BY License.

Men's Pathways to Parenthood deals with the neglected topic of men's roles in decisions about having children. It contributes significantly to building a knowledge base around the intricacies and complexities (including the silences) associated with male parenthood and decision-making in the South African context and beyond. In this book the authors present a nuanced and compelling analysis that highlights the roles of changing gender norms, whiteness, and heteronormativity in shaping their research participants' accounts. The book presents valuable findings that will be relevant to researchers and practitioners studying families and reproduction outside of hetero-patriarchal norms.