Cheri Pies, author of 'Considering Parenthood', dies at 73

She made a name for herself with a landmark book for same-sex parenting and went on to study the impact of racial and economic inequalities on health.

Cheri Pies, a public health professor who broke down barriers with her landmark 1985 book, "Con Sidering Parenthood: A Workbook for Lesbians," a bible of the "gay boom" of the 1980s and beyond, died July 4 at her home in Berkeley, Calif. She was 73. "Sherry") became a pioneering researcher and professor at the University of California, Berkeley School of Public Health, investigating the effects of economic and racial inequality in areas such as infant mortality and health across generations.

< p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">But she made a name for herself decades before turning to academia with her groundbreaking book. That journey began in the 1970s, when Dr. Pies worked as a health educator for Planned Parenthood, advising heterosexual women considering becoming mothers. At that time, the concept of openly gay parents was still mostly unheard of in the mainstream culture.

That year, New York became the first state to declare that it would not reject adoption applications solely on the basis of homosexuality. A year later, a California gay couple broke barriers by being the first known to jointly adopt a child.

Dr. Pies was struck by the lack of support for same-sex parents, as well as the lack of background information on the unique challenges they face. She started organizing workshops at home in Oakland, California, announcing them with leaflets in women's bookstores and other places where lesbians met.

In the early 1980s, the news of her work was spread beyond the Bay Area, and lesbians across the country. In response, Dr. Pies compiled his teachings and experiences into a book. “Considering Parenthood: A Workbook for Lesbians,” published by lesbian feminist press Spinsters Ink, provided practical advice on a wide range of topics, including using sperm donors, legal issues around adoption, and ways to build a support network. . parenting.

"She was absolutely a trailblazer, and those of us who came later relied on her work," said G. Dorsey Green, psychologist and author of "The Lesbian Parenting Book" (with D. Merilee Clunis, 2003), in an obituary about Dr. Pies on Mombian, a website for lesbian parents. “I would recommend his book to clients. This was when lesbian couples were just beginning to think about having children as lesbians. Cheri started this conversation."

Dr. Pies, who earned a master's degree in social work from Boston University in 1976, eventually turned to academia, earning another master's degree in maternal and child health from Berkeley in 1985 and a doctorate in health education in 1993. When she heard a 2003 lecture by Dr. Michael C. Lu, who would become the dean of the Berkeley School of Public Health.

Dr. Lu spoke about a concept called life course theory, which is based on the idea that social and economic conditions at every stage of life, beginning with early childhood, can have powerful and lasting effects on generations.