This pops up in a conversation in a group of friends. The circle I hang out with are from conservative Asian background, so we do not know any gay couples personally.
We were wondering how children of gay couples address their parents. Do they use “dad” or “mum”, or something less gender-specific?
The one I know calls his parents mum and ma.
This varies from family to family, but amongst my lesbian friends I have come across…
I have friends that are a (male) gay couple. The obviously more masculine has a little girl from a previous relationship, and he has full custody of her. She calls her biological father Daddy, and his partner Daddy (Name).
My friend and her wife use the second convention listed by SanVito.
Mommy firstname and Mama firstname, in the case I know best.
My sister’s daughters use “Mom (First Name)” for her and “Mother (First Name)” for my SIL.
Another vote here for “Mommy <First Name>” and “Mommy < Other First Name>”.
The kids are now in their teens, so the “Mommy” sometimes gets dropped – especially when referring to them, to other family members.
Lord forgive me, but the first thing that popped in to my head was “Bottom Daddy” and “Top Daddy”.
Although this could be problematic if they’re versatile…
The ones I’ve met in Spain used the second item listed by SanVito, Mamá [firstname] or Papá [Firstname]. But then, that’s also very common for other relatives, my nephews call their grandmas Yaya [Firstname].
My friends have their daughter call one of the Mom and the other is Mumsy.
The Girl’s Mom is “Mom” or “Nancy” …Nancy’s GF is just Name. (they’ve only been togehter a few years, so The Girl didn’t grow up with Nancy’s girlfriend as her second mom)
My cousin calls his fathers Daddy James and Daddy Stewart.
Sounds pretty much like what kids do with two sets of grandparents.
Or a mother and stepmother and/or father and stepfather.
The only ones I know called their bio dad, dad and his partner by his first name. (kids from a previous marriage). None of my friends have had kids together so that’s the best I can come up with.
Isn’t it pretty much the same ‘problem’ as how kids differentiate between their two grandmothers and grandfathers?
I don’t have kids, but if we did they would call me daddy in Chinese and my husband daddy in English. That’s what my nephews do for their grandparents and it works out pretty well for all involved.
I dated a girl who had two dads. She referred to them by their first names.
My sister is mama and her partner is mommy. The kids are still very young so I guess that could change in the future.
A couple I know use terms for ‘Mom’ in different languages, in their case Mom and Ima (Hebrew.) Ima is Jewish, Mom is Chinese-American.