Conclusions: Beyond Assimilation and Transgression

Abstract

This book began with an acknowledgment of the growing phenomenon of a new generation of lesbians embarking on parenthood in the context of an openly lesbian lifestyle. The preceding chapters have attempted to contextualise lesbian parents’ experiences and unravel some of the implications of this relatively new family form for theoretical and empirical work in relation to gender, sexuality and kinship. While much previous research has been centrally concerned with the effects of lesbian and gay parental sexuality on children, this study has integrated lesbian parents’ narratives into contemporary theoretical analysis and debate. The relational choices and perspectives of lesbian parents in Sweden and Ireland have been explored and their experiences have been addressed with reference to the importance of socio-political context and place. In addition, the teleological nature of the discussions concerning the relative similarity or difference of lesbian parent families to their heterosexual counterparts, or to a heteronormative standard, has been challenged through a deconstruction of the heterocentric polarity at the heart of these debates. This concluding discussion consists of five sections, in which the implications of the research findings and theoretical concerns of this work are explored: a brief overview of the key findings; suggestions for further research; lesbian parenthood in a comparative perspective; a reconceptualisation of lesbian Otherness; implications for theoretical work on family practices; and finally a reconsideration of the question ‘Is kinship always already heterosexual?’ (Butler, 2002).