Journal of GLBT Family Studies, 6:111–141, 2010 Copyright © Taylor & Francis Group, LLC ISSN: 1550-428X print / 1550-4298 online DOI: 10.1080/15504281003704942 Gay Men Who Become Fathers via Surrogacy: The Transition to Parenthood KIM BERGMAN Growing Generations, LLC, Los Angeles, California, United States RITCHIE J. RUBIO, ROBERT-JAY GREEN, and ELENA PADR ´ ON Rockway Institute at Alliant International University, San Francisco Campus, California, United States The current investigation explores how gay fathers who become parents through gestational surrogacy experience the transition to parenthood. Structured interviews were conducted with one of the partners in 40 couples that had conceived children via surrogacy. The interviews consisted of closed- and open-ended questions exam- ining changes in fathers’ careers; lifestyles; couple relationships; re- lations with family of origin; friendships; self-esteem; and self-care. Thematic and quantitative analyses of the data were employed. The most striking psychological findings were that fathers reported greater closeness with their families of origin and heightened self- esteem as a result of becoming parents and raising children. KEYWORDS Gay fathers, surrogacy, transition to parenthood INTRODUCTION The notion of what it means to be a couple or a family has evolved dramat- ically over time (Coontz, 2006; Stacey, 1996; Weston, 1997). In recent years, these changes are due in part to greater possibilities for forming families via alternative reproductive technologies and adoption opportunities (Ehrensaft, 2005; Evan B. Donaldson Institute, 2006). Among gay men and lesbians, we have also seen a rapid increase in the number of committed couples We would like to acknowledge the assistance of Lee Soskin and Christopher Larkin for their help conducting and transcribing the interviews for this project. Address correspondence to Robert-Jay Green, PhD, Executive Director, Rockway Institute for LGBT Research and Public Policy, California School of Professional Psychology, Alliant International University, 1 Beach Street, Suite 100, San Francisco, CA 94133-1221. E-mail: rjgreen@alliant.edu 111