parenting
WATCH: New mums share their baby joy on ‘This Time Next Year’
New mums Kelly and Peta-Gai have shared their journey to parenthood on Channel Nine’s This Time Next Year. The couple, who are from Melbourne, have been together 11 years. They told the program’s host Karl Stefanovic they fell in love with each other at work after previous relationships. Peta-Gai said their parenting plans had been …
‘I love big families’: Ricky Martin expecting fourth child
Ricky Martin has announced he and husband Jwan Yosef are expecting their fourth child. The singer announced the happy news while accepting an award at a Human Rights Campaign dinner in Washington DC at the weekend. “My family is here… My husband Jwan, I love you. To my beautiful twins Matteo and Valentino, I love …
Trans parents: ‘If a man gives birth, he’s the father’
By Ruth Pearce, University of Leeds The UK’s High Court has ruled that Freddy McConnell, a transgender man who gave birth to his child, does not have the right to be registered as a “father” on his child’s birth certificate. McConnell, who is transgender, has indicated his intention to appeal. At present, people who give …
Gay dads forced to flee Russia
Two gay dads forced to flee Russia say they’re “an ordinary family” but feared their adopted children would be removed by homophobic authorities. Andrei Vaganov and Yevgeny Yerofeyev (pictured) married in Denmark in 2016. Prior to the marriage, Vaganov legally adopted the couple’s two boys. The couple have been raising the boys, now 12 and …
Gay penguin couple get ready to be dads
A pair of male king penguins at Berlin Zoo are getting ready to become parents after adopting and incubating an egg. Ten-year-old penguins Skipper and Ping (pictured) came to the zoo from Hamburg in April. The pair had been showing clear parental instincts for a while, staff said. The two penguins had previously tried to …
Explainer: IVF and discrimination in Queensland
First came love, then came marriage (equality), then came the LGBTIQ+ couple with a baby carriage. With the growth of technology and medical advancement, the dream of having a child has never been more accessible for same sex couples. Anti-discrimination legislation in Queensland, however, explicitly allows discrimination against the queer community, enabling IVF clinics to …
‘Isolated and disconnected’: The private struggles faced by LGBTIQ carers
Carers are not highly visible in our communities. Their caring role often restricts their social activities. However, they are out there. My boss cares for a relative. I cared for a friend with a chronic condition who is now deceased and even four years later struggle to address the despair I felt. Fortunately, there is …
Queensland couple Shannon and Justin open up about becoming foster carers
As a couple, Shannon Toner and Justin Smith wanted to make a positive difference in the lives of some of the most vulnerable children in our society. They became foster carers and have been caring for children in need for nearly three years, writes Destiny Rogers. “More than 9,000 children in Queensland are in need …
Rainbow Families hosting same-sex parenting information session in Brisbane
Prospective same-sex parents will be able to explore options to start or expand their families at an information session to be held in Brisbane next month. The Making Rainbow Babies seminar, hosted by Rainbow Families Queensland, will provide local LGBTIQ people with information on their parenting options and allow them to hear about other parents’ …
Sperm donor’s High Court bid to stop mothers moving child overseas
Australia’s High Court is set to rule on the case of a New South Wales man who donated sperm to a lesbian couple to conceive a child and is now fighting for legal parental recognition to stop the couple and the child moving overseas. The father, given the pseudonym Robert Masson by the court, had …