Kinkler Lori A, Goldberg Abbie E
Department of Psychology, Clark University, 950 Main Street, Worcester MA 01610, Ph: 508.793.7289.
Fam Relat. 2011 Oct 1;60(4):387-403. doi: 10.1111/j.1741-3729.2011.00654.x.
In seeking to adopt, lesbians and gay men may confront various barriers and obstacles. Ideally they have access to a variety of support resources that can help to buffer the negative effects of these barriers. However, lesbians and gay men living in small-metropolitan communities may have limited access to support resources. The current qualitative study examined the perceptions of 37 same-sex couples who were pursuing adoption while living outside of large metropolitan cities, with attention to the barriers these couples encountered during the adoption process, and the resources they drew upon to cope with such challenges. Findings indicated that same sex couples living in small-metropolitan areas confronted several major barriers in the adoption process, such as a lack of geographically accessible gay-friendly adoption agencies. Despite limited access to support, participants showed evidence of notable resourcefulness. For example, participants with limited access to formal support groups sought out informal supports instead.
在寻求收养孩子时，女同性恋者和男同性恋者可能会面临各种障碍。理想情况下，他们能够获得各种支持资源，这些资源有助于缓冲这些障碍带来的负面影响。然而，生活在小都市社区的女同性恋者和男同性恋者获得支持资源的机会可能有限。当前的定性研究调查了37对生活在大城市以外且正在寻求收养的同性伴侣的看法，关注这些伴侣在收养过程中遇到的障碍，以及他们用来应对此类挑战的资源。研究结果表明，生活在小都市地区的同性伴侣在收养过程中面临几个主要障碍，比如缺乏在地理位置上可及的支持同性恋的收养机构。尽管获得支持的机会有限，但参与者展现出了显著的足智多谋。例如，难以获得正式支持团体帮助的参与者转而寻求非正式支持。
