"Merrill's new analysis of changes in parent-adult relationships when a homosexual child marries builds on her valuable and insightful parallel study of what happens to parent-child relationships when a heterosexual child marries. . . . Its implications go far beyond the focal question about how to survive the marriage of a homosexual child, by raising questions about the ways gender structures so many family relationships."

This book examines how same-sex marriage changes the relationships between parents and their gay or lesbian adult children. It is also a guide for parents to better understand how parent/child bonds are transformed from the time of the child "coming out of the closet" to the raising of his or her own children. It will also serve to help parents understand the contours of same-sex marriage and their child’s struggles as he or she navigates marriage, parenthood, and family relationships over time. Based on interviews with married (or previously married) gay men and women who had at least one parent alive during their marriage as well as parents who have both a married gay/lesbian child and a married heterosexual child, the author offers stories from people who illustrate a range of experiences. From coming out, to raising children, from wedding day ceremonies to separations and divorce, the stories found in these pages show how families can come together or fall apart, but also offer hope and guidance for those hoping to be supportive parents and in-laws, and to adult children who hope to maintain healthy relationships with their parents after marriage.