SEPARATED AND DIVORCED GAY DADS
GDC GENERAL INTEREST SUPPORT GROUPS
Separated and Divorced Fathers
These GDC General Interest Support Groups attempt to support gay fathers in understanding the legal, emotional, and parenting issued faced by separated and divorced gay fathers and how these issues can affect their father/child relationships in Canada.
Divorce and separation have a profound effect on families in general and on gay father parenting in particular. Moreover, few issues relating to gay father parenting are more controversial than those having to do with gay fathers' rights and responsibilities after divorce and separation.
In general these groups try to provide support and services dealing with the various areas relevant to the needs and concerns of gay fathers who encounter difficulties after divorce and separation. Generally these include legal issues, gay fathers' perceptions of their children's needs and their own post-divorce gay parenting responsibilities and rights, and ways in which our current system of divorce might be changed in order to better balance the needs and aspirations of gay fathers, mothers and children.
The following information, publications or associated materials are currently available for reference to these support groups:
Shared Parental Responsibility: A Harm Reduction-Based Approach to Divorce Law Reform (Journal of Divorce and Remarriage, Vol.34, Issue 3/4)
This article by Edward Kruk selectively reviews divorce research from 2000-2005, a period during which important new data on children, families and divorce appeared. This data supports an approach to post divorce parenting based on reducing the harms attendant to divorce for children and parents, parental equality and family autonomy
Executive Summary (Father Involvement Community Research Forum Spring 2006 - Early Results)
Authored by Edward Kruk. A summary of research into factors relating to parenting by separated and divorced fathers. Summary includes an overview of both quantitative and qualitative findings, as well as potential implications for post-divorce father involvement.
OUR TEENAGED DADS!
GDC GENERAL INTEREST SUPPORT GROUPS
TEENAGED FATHERS
These GDC General Interest Support Groups attempt to understand the experiences and needs of gay fathers who become fathers at a young age and try to identify the most effective way of supporting them.
The support from these groups generally involves trying to address the huge impact on young gay men who become fathers as a teenager or a very young adult. This support tends to focus on examining the multiple dimensions of young gay fathers’ needs and experiences in relationship to:
- work, school, housing, and relationships as they affect gay fathering experience of young gay men aged 16 to 25
- addressing negative perceptions of young gay fathers as expressed through social services and the courts
- identification of programming needs for young gay fathers along with programs which currently exist.
Some examples of reference and resource materials available through these various groups include the following:
Giving a Voice to Young Dads- DVD
Believe in me!/Je suis là! is the first Canadian film to provide a window into the lives and, more importantly, the minds of a group of young dads. The 26-minute documentary, made by Tamás Wormser, of Artesian Films, gives young fathers a voice: a chance to talk about their aspirations, their frustrations, their mistakes, their pride in the children and also the enormous obstacles they face if they want to be involved in their children’s lives.
This DVD is not for sale. Limited single copies are available from the organizations listed below for a nominal fee of $10.00 to cover shipping and handling.
Father Involvemenet Initiative - Ontario Nework www.cffi.ca/fiion (click on Materials from drop down menu under resources)
Vanier Institute of the Family-
By email: llegault@vifamily.ca;
Fax: 613-228-8007
Mail: The Vanier Institute of the Family, 94 Centrepointe Drive, Ottawa, ON K2G 6B1
Father Involvement Research Alliance http://www.fira.uoguelph.ca/
Executive Summary (Father Involvement Community Research Forum Spring 2006 - Early Results)
Authored by Annie Devault. A summary of research into factors relating to parenting by young fathers. Work and research conducted to date by the young fathers clusters includes demographics, how becoming a father impacts young men, the impact of role models, co-parental relationships, mothers’ perspectives on fathers, the role of grandparents and practitioners’ perspectives
OUR IMMIGRANT DADS!
GDC SPECIAL SUPPORT GROUPS
Immigrant Fathers
These GDC Special Support Groups attempt to support gay fathers facing the challenges of being immigrant gay fathers in Canada.
The experience of being an immigrant or refugee may have a significant impact on the gay fathering role. The purpose of these varied support groups is to try to identify key acculturation challenges for immigrant/refugee gay fathers, and to collaboratively develop a best practices program of service for immigrant gay fathers, and to generate an inventory of programs and services that address the needs of immigrant gay fathers in Canada.
Immigrant gay fathers are dealing with multiple and often inter-related stressors such as: unemployment and underemployment, social isolation, barriers to accessing services, role reversal (when their partners are the first to find employment), and trauma induced by war or enforced refugee status.
In addition these gay fathers may have strong beliefs, values, and traditions about the nature of the family and father-child relationships that may or may not be supported in Canada.
The following information, publications or associated materials are currently
available for reference to these support groups:
Fatherhood and Immigration: Challenging the Deficit Theory (Child and Family Social Work, Volume 10, Issue 4, pp. 315-239)
Authored by Dorit Roer-Strier, Roni Strier, David Este, Rena Shimoni, and Dawne Clark. Article focuses on impact of immigration on fathers, examining immigrant fathers' perceptions of fatherhood, systematic obstacles facing immigrant fathers, and positive opportunities presented by cultural change.
Executive Summary (Father Involvement Community Research Forum Spring 2006 - Early Results)
Authored by David Este. A summary of research into stress factors relating to parenting by immigrant fathers. Stress factors for immigrant fathers include underemployment or unemployment, social isolation, barriers to helping services, role reversal, and trauma induced by war or enforced refugee status
OUR SPECIAL NEEDS DADS!
GDC GENERAL INTEREST SUPPORT GROUPS
Fathers of Children with Special Needs
These GDC General Interest Support Groups attempt to understand how fathers of children with special needs develop their fathering roles and identities within the context of the couple relationship. It is very difficult to understand gay fathers and their roles in families without taking into account the roles that mothers play in families and the ways in which mothers and gay fathers influence each other's involvement.
Generally this support attempts to draw on family support systems and social services intended to support gay fathers of children with selected chronic health conditions (cerebral palsy, juvenile rheumatoid arthritis and spina bifida) while examining their parenting roles and involvement relating to the care of the child with their partners. This support is expected to contribute to the improvement of family-centred care practices with respect to supporting gay fathers.
Some examples of reference and resource materials available from these various groups include the following:
Executive Summary (Father Involvement Community Research Forum Spring 2006 - Early Results)
Authored by Ted McNeil. A summary of research into factors relating to parenting by fathers of children with special needs. Summary includes an overview of preliminary findings regarding how fathers and their partner co-construct their roles and identities, as well as other contextual variables that shape a father’s role.
GAY DADS TO BE!
GDC GENERAL INTEREST SUPPORT GROUPS
New Fathers
These GDC General Interest Support Groups attempt to increase community, practitioner, and community understandings of the experiences of new gay fathers. Their support generally involves how gay fathers are impacted by the transition to fatherhood, the specific supports new fathers need and the services that are currently available to them within their respective communities in Canada.
These GDC General Interest Support Groups tend to direct their services and support for new gay fathers within three broad categories focusing on the time period from pregnancy through the first eightteen months of the child’s live, when the new gay fathers interests and needs are the highest.
- These GDC General Interest Groups ascertain the levels of support services offered to fathers before, during and after the birth of their children from community organizations and the health system.
- These GDC General Interest Groups are usually designed to get men's perspectives on which services they want and which existing programs they find the most and least helpful.
- These GDC General Interest Groups attempt to collect information which provides insight into the impact of new fatherhood on family relationships, gender roles as they relate to parenting, personal and social identities, masculinities, and family and social responsibilities.
GDC Partnerships: Partners in these GDC General Interest Groups can include Focus on Fathers program, Working with Families Institute, Father Involvement Initiative, National Project Fund on Fatherhood, Invest in Kids.
Some examples of reference and resource materials available through these various groups include the following:
A Girl’s Guide to Rookie Dads (Today’s Parent, Pregnancy and Birth, Autumn 2004)
Authored by John Hoffman. An overview for new mothers (and fathers) about fatherhood. The article considers how men learn to become fathers, including developing a relationship with the baby, the challenges of shared responsibility for a new baby, and how parents learn to communicate with one another.
Teaching Skills to First-time Fathers Via Video Coaching
A team led by University of Alberta researchers Joyce Magill-Evans (Rehabilitation Medicine), and Margaret Harrison (Nursing), and University of Calgary researcher Karen Benzies (Nursing) tested the effectiveness of video-coaching as a way to teach parent/baby interaction skills to new fathers. To read more about this study, follow the link above.
Executive Summary (Father Involvement Community Research Forum Spring 2006 - Early Results)
Authored by Ed Bader and Andrea Doucet. A summary of research into factors relating to parenting by new fathers. Summary includes an overview of academic research into parenting by new fathers, community partnerships, and the development of new resources and programs.
