Family Beyond the Binary: A Community-Focused Project Exploring Non-Binary Family Life

Dr Susie Bower-Brown

This presentation introduces Family Beyond the Binary, a new community-focused research project exploring non-binary people’s experiences of family life. Non-binary identities are increasingly visible, yet we have little research on how non-binary people define and experience family life. This project addresses this gap, offering an in-depth examination of the family experiences of non-binary people in the UK. The presentation will first reflect on Susie’s previous research with trans and non-binary parents, which examined their experiences of navigating parenting spaces and negotiating gender norms. It will then consider how the findings from this research informed the design of Family Beyond the Binary. The presentation will also outline the project’s participatory methodology, collaboration with a national community organisation, and the planned analyses and outputs for both academic and non-academic audiences.

Dr Susie Bower-Brown is a Lecturer in Social Psychology at the Thomas Coram Research Unit, University College London. Susie’s interdisciplinary qualitative research explores LGBTQ+ identities and diverse family forms. Susie is currently leading an ESRC New Investigator Grant exploring the family experiences of non-binary individuals in the UK. Susie’s work has also focussed on the social experiences of trans and non-binary parents and adolescents, and the experiences of parents pursuing novel paths to parenthood, including reciprocal IVF and elective co-parenting.