Modern Families

Modern Families chronicles the experiences of people pursuing parenthood through unconventional paths including surrogacy, adoption, and assisted reproduction. Through interviews and immersive reporting, Joshua Gamson follows several families as they navigate the complexities of creating their families outside traditional methods. The book presents a range of perspectives from gay fathers, single parents, and others who face both institutional and social barriers in their quests to become parents. Gamson documents their interactions with agencies, medical professionals, legal systems, and society at large while building their families. The narratives trace the emotional, financial, and logistical challenges these individuals encounter throughout their family-building journeys. The families' stories span several years, revealing the realities of modern family creation in an evolving social landscape. This work examines how definitions of family continue to expand in the 21st century, while raising questions about inequality, access, and the commodification of reproduction. The book serves as both a cultural document and an exploration of what makes a family in contemporary society.

Readers appreciate Gamson's personal narratives and interviews that illuminate the complex realities of creating families through adoption and assisted reproduction. Many note his accessible writing style and balanced presentation of both struggles and joys. Common praise focuses on the book's honesty about financial and emotional costs of alternative family-building methods. Readers highlight Gamson's examination of class, race, and privilege in reproductive options. Some readers wanted more exploration of specific topics like single parents or international surrogacy. A few felt the academic tone in certain sections made parts less engaging. Ratings: Goodreads: 4.1/5 (62 ratings) Amazon: 4.6/5 (32 ratings) Sample reader comments: "Clear-eyed look at modern family formation without sugarcoating the challenges" - Goodreads "Could have included more diverse family structures" - Amazon "Valuable resource for those considering assisted reproduction" - LibraryThing "Academic at times but deeply human stories" - Goodreads

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🎯 Joshua Gamson drew from over 95 personal interviews with parents, surrogates, donors, and children to create this intimate portrait of contemporary family-making. 🌈 The author explores his own journey as a gay father of two daughters while weaving together stories of various "modern families," including single parents by choice and multiracial adoptive families. 📚 The book won the 2016 William J. Goode Book Award from the American Sociological Association's Family Section. 👥 Many of the stories highlight how class and wealth significantly impact access to assisted reproductive technology and adoption services, revealing economic inequalities in family formation. 🔄 Gamson's work documents how the definition of family has evolved from 1980-2015, particularly through technological advances in reproduction and changing social attitudes toward LGBTQ+ families.