Rachel Farr

Farr's research focuses on diverse family systems and issues of adoption through the lenses of Developmental and Community Psychology, with particular interest in child development, parenting, and family functioning. Farr primarily studies adoptive families and families headed by lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) parents. She also has interest in how issues of race (e.g., transracial adoption), gender, and birth family contact are relevant in adoptive families. As a William T. Grant Foundation Scholar (Class of 2023), Farr is currently examining the lived experiences of racially and socioeconomically diverse adolescents with LGBTQ+ parents, particularly as related to identity, discrimination, coping, peer and family relationships, and community supports. Overarching themes in Farr's writings include how empirical research on LGBTQ+ parent families and on adoption may be informative to public policy, practice, and law, especially given that her research has been; influential in media circles, public debates, and legal and policy domains. Farr serves on her local county school's LGBTQ+ advisory committee, as well as in multiple leadership roles in her department and university, especially as related to diversity and inclusion efforts.