Way Out Parent's blog

WAY OUT PARENTING: 6 STEPS TO PREPARE YOUNG CHILDREN FOR DEALING WITH LESS-EVOLVED ADULTS

Submitted by Way Out Parent on Tue, 09/02/2008 - 8:38pm.

When you signed on to be a gay parent, you knew you would have to education straight people on a regular basis. That was part of the deal. But you probably didn’t consider how often your child—even your very young child—would have to educate others on your behalf. But when you least expect it, a stranger will pat your child’s head and say, “Your mom and dad must be so proud of you!” and unless you’ve prepared your child, he or she won’t know what to say. So follow these simple steps:

WAY OUT PARENTING: 5 SYMPTONS OF GAY UBER PARENT SYNDROME—AND THEIR DANGEROUS CONSEQUENCES

Submitted by Way Out Parent on Mon, 08/25/2008 - 7:36am.

Are you a Gay Uber Parent?

Virtually everyone approaches parenthood with a secret belief that they can somehow avoid all the mistakes other parents have made through time in memoriam. You, as gay a parent, are particularly vulnerable to this dangerous fallacy. Because your rights and qualifications to be parents have been challenged by the straight world, you may feel the need to send a defiant message to all of your detractors: Just watch. My child will be superior to yours in every conceivable way. And in a desperate attempt to fulfill your prophecy, you may impose on your child a series of unrealistic rules designed to make them perfect. You may be a Gay Uber Parent. Read the warning signs and the potential consequences.

WAY OUT PARENTING: WHAT IF BRITNEY SPEARS HAD BEEN A CHILD OF GAYS?

Submitted by Way Out Parent on Sat, 08/16/2008 - 6:18am.

Do you ever imagine how your life might have been different had you been born into different circumstances? Imagine for a moment that Britney Spears had not been born the daughter of Lynne and Jamie Spears. Instead, she’d been the child of two gay moms or dads who conceived her with the help of high-tech reproductive technologies rarely employed in rural Mississippi where vodka tonics and Budweisers on a Saturday night are more typical precursors to pregnancy.

Would Britney’s life trajectory have been any different? Would she have been a “better” person? Would she have learned to wear underwear? Would she have lost custody of her children? Who knows. There’s plenty of evidence that addictive, self-destructive personalities are born, not made. But it’s fun to conjecture, so let’s look at some Britney milestones and how they might have played out differently had she been a Child of Gays.

Way Out Parenting: 4 simple rules for enjoying a successful "date night" without the kids

Submitted by Way Out Parent on Sat, 08/09/2008 - 1:33pm.

Every parent experiences the mind-numbing exhaustion of raising children. It may be, however, that gay male parents succumb to the exhaustion more dramatically and often than straight or lesbians parents. Some researchers have theorized that over millennia of procreation, humans developed a Parenting Stamina Gene (PSG) that becomes activated in both men and women by the tidal wave of hormones released at puberty. These researchers speculate that in gay men the PSG fails to activate.

Way Out Parenting: The 6 Cardinal Sins of Straight People Writing a Reference for Gay Prospective Parent

Submitted by Way Out Parent on Fri, 08/01/2008 - 7:28am.

A critical element of your adoption or second parent adoption paperwork are letters of reference from people who presumably know you well and can attest to your outstanding character and fitness to be a parent. These letters can be important tools that sway social workers and pregnant women to consider you as suitable parents. And let’s be frank: you need letters from straight people.

Way Out Parenting: What should you do if your adoption hearing judge gives your infant a lollipop?

Submitted by Way Out Parent on Tue, 07/22/2008 - 9:35pm.

The fact that you can ask this question means you are one of the fortunate few who live in a state where gay/lesbian adoption and second parent adoption is condoned or even considered. By the time you mount the steps to the imposing family or probate court building for your hearing, you will have already fulfilled most of the requirements on your journey to adoption:

• the filing of legal documents;

• the completion of lengthy application forms;

• the submission of numerous personal references from straight professional friends and associates who have attested to your outstanding character;

• the dreaded home visit during which you felt as if everything you said or didn’t say was being interpreted by the social worker as potential evidence of your misqualifications for parenthood.

You have almost reached the finish line, but you can’t let down your guard yet. Follow these instructions:

WAY OUT PARENTING: THE COLLEGE ADMISSIONS ESSAY YOUR CHILD COULD WRITE ONE DAY

Submitted by Way Out Parent on Sat, 07/19/2008 - 7:26am.

There are many practical reasons for your children to rejoice in the fact that they are Children of Gays (COGS), and college admissions is one of them.

While your children may be in diapers today, one day they will apply to college, and in the college admissions process, they—like all other applicants—are nothing more than commodities. They must sell themselves. And the admissions essay is their one opportunity to communicate their unique selling proposition—their platform.