I hold a Ph.D. in sociology from the University of Toronto.

I am a lecturer in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at Simon Fraser University and sessional faculty in the School of Culture, Media, and Society at the University of the Fraser Valley—both of which occupy the unceded, ancestral lands of the Musqueam, Squamish, Tsleil-Waututh, and Stó:lō peoples. Prior, I taught across the St. George, Mississauga, and Scarborough campuses at the University of Toronto, which occupy the traditional territories of the Huron-Wendat, the Seneca, and the Mississaugas of the Credit. I teach broadly in sociology, with a special focus on the sociology of families, sexualities, gender, research methods, and the philosophy of social science. I also integrate historical and political economic analyses of race and class into my teaching.

My research focuses on 2SLGBTQI+ parenthood, families, and communities in Canada, particularly male co-parents. My research has been published in scholarly journals like the Canadian Review of Sociology and LGBTQ+ Family: An Interdisciplinary Journal. My work has also appeared in books like The Routledge Companion on Gender and Fatherhood and Non-Binary Lives: An Anthology of Intersecting Identities.

Thanks to the broader 2SLGBTQI+ movements of the last century that won same-gender couples the rights to marry and parent together, gay fathers are forming families that represent a historically novel social unit. Yet, gay fathers must navigate many barriers to their full participation in the world of parents. They often lack easy access to the means of reproduction and become primary caregivers to children in a society organized around straight parents. My research shows that the many paths gay men navigate toward parenthood are often dizzying and bureaucratically complex, and that they may experience little control over these processes. My research highlights the barriers and inequalities that persist for 2SLGBTQI+ families. At the heart of my work is a focus on the profound commitment that Canadian gay men bring to their roles as fathers as they pave the way for future generations of primary caregiving co-fathers.

Research Areas

Sociology of Families; Sociology of Gender and Sexualities; Social Inequality; the Political Economy of Race, Class and Gender; Culture of Parenthood

Current Projects

The Gay Dads Blueprint

·         Based on a decade of experience navigating and researching the Canadian surrogacy and adoption systems, Underwood is developing a community course that aims to support prospective and intended gay fathers as they make decisions about co-parenting, foster care, public and private adoption, and traditional and gestational surrogacy.

Continuity and Innovation in Canadian Families

·         Development of a Canadian sociology of families textbook that compiles empirical research and theoretical perspectives to investigate how families are shaped by broader social forces while also changing in response to structural inequalities and social policies (with Dr. Amber Gazso).

Cultural Analysis of Contemporary Canadian Parenthood and Digital Media

·         Examining the contemporary culture of intensive parenthood in digital spaces (with Dr. Lance Stewart)

Autoethnography of Becoming Parents

·         Investigation of the Underwoods’ personal journey to queer parenthood, involving the death of a baby in gestational surrogacy, significant financial loss, and the successful adoption of a son.