Trans and nonbinary parenting

This chapter focuses on the practices and meanings given to ‘parenting,’ ‘caring,’ and ‘family’ when working with transgender or nonbinary (TNB) people within social work. It is written in the context of legislative and policy changes and in response to political, cultural, and social contexts particularly in the UK where the authors are based. These have implications for practitioners in public sector services who need to ensure that such transformations towards equality for TNB populations directly benefit the individuals and families involved. This chapter integrates research evidence on TNB parenting by firstly drawing on selected findings from a systematic review of the international, empirical literature on TNB parenting (Hafford-Letchfield et al., 2019) combined with the authors’ own experiences as trans activists and social work professionals with research, practice, and personal experience in lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) family care. We highlight the relevance of these findings through a legal case study in the UK and conclude with pointers on how these offer a critical lens to further analyse practice which improves support to TNB families.