Timothy Biblarz, Ph.D., University of Southern California, and Judith Stacey, Ph.D., New York University, lead this signature plenary session. In their JMF article in February, Timothy Biblarz and Judith Stacey challenged the idea that “fatherless” children are necessarily at a disadvantage or that men provide a different, indispensable set of parenting skills than women. The article is based on their analysis of relevant studies about parenting, including available research on single-mother and single-father households, gay male parents and lesbian parents.

Discussant: Joseph Pleck, Ph.D., University of Illinois