Today, same-sex couples still can’t adopt internationally from many countries. Still, gay couples couldn’t adopt in many states until a 2017 Supreme Court ruling eliminated that restriction. Thanks to the 2015 Supreme Court ruling, same-sex marriage now is legal and recognized throughout the United States. Getting my wife to the local hospital was stressful enough for me! She and her wife raced to Washington, D.C., where, unlike Virginia, two mothers could be listed on a birth certificate. When she went into labor, she didn’t race to UVA Hospital. are born outside of marriage today, versus 5% in 1960, many to cohabiting couples.Īnd what about same-sex families? In 2013, I had a graduate student whose out-of-state, same-sex marriage was not recognized in Virginia. So-called two-parent families include many second marriages, half- and unrelated siblings. Of course, there are many more variations on family. The title of my most recent book for parents encapsulates the message: “Two Homes, One Childhood: A Parenting Plan to Last a Lifetime.” I urge parents to act like parents – so their kids can be just kids, not forever children of divorce. In my research on divorce mediation, my practice as a clinical psychologist and in my writing, I always encourage parting parents to still treat each other like family, despite their past and their pain. The census has long ignored this contemporary family reality.įamilies can and do extend beyond households, a fact that complicates counting for demographers, but must be counted emotionally. When are you going to start counting joint custody? Yup. But almost all of those kids have two, living biological parents. Hey census people! You say 31% of children live in single-parent families, up from 12% in 1960. I’m not exactly objective, but that embrace of our family name tells me my daughter thinks of the three of us as family. Then again, neither did my 25-year-old unmarried daughter who’s living in Spain and was unavailable for the family photo shoot.Īnd what about my oldest daughter’s mother, my ex? Our daughter named her first-born “Emery,” my surname and one her mom retained. But if I include my 37-year-old daughter, does that mean her husband and their three children, my grandchildren, are a part of my family, too? They didn’t make the crucial Christmas card family photo cut. I’m not kicking my children out of my family, no matter how old they are or what rules you make. They make you a part of our family until you turn 26. (Now stop asking for money!) Yet, three of you are still covered on our health insurance, as per Obamacare rules. The Census Bureau says you’re on your own.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |