A CROSS-SECTIONAL SURVEY OF TAIWANESE GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN’S PARENTHOOD DESIRES AND PREFERRED MEANS OF FAMILY FORMATION

Abstract

Desires for parenthood and knowledge about the means to parenthood are important determinants of reproductive behaviours. Despite ART and adoption becoming more accessible in select parts of the world, sexual minority individuals consistently report lower desire for parenthood and anticipated higher levels of stigma surrounding parenthood than did heterosexual individuals. While there is a burgeoning literature on parenthood orientations, attitudes and demographic composition among same-sex couples, gay men, and, to a larger extent, bisexual men, are significantly under-represented. The study investigated the parenthood desires and preferred methods of family formation among Taiwanese gay and bisexual men before legalization of same-sex marriage in Taiwan. A cross-sectional online survey was administered to Taiwanese men who self-identified as gay or bisexual recruited through social media. Data collection took place before legalization of same-sex marriage in Taiwan in May 2018. Respondents completed an online survey with a list of items relating to their parenthood desires, preferred method(s) of family formation, and reproductive awareness for respondents who endorsed surrogacy and ART as a preferred method. Men who self-identified as transgender, queer and asexual were precluded from analyses due to small cell sizes, yielding a final sample of 1,381 men. Variables were compared between age and other demographic groups using independent-samples t-tests or chi-squared tests. Respondents were on average 27, the majority were homosexual, employed, university-educated, and non-religious. Among the 1,023 (74%) respondents who desire to have children, they desire to have two children, and to have the first child at 32 years and the last child no later than 43 years. Adoption was the most preferred method of family formation (83%), followed by surrogacy and ART (73%) and marriage with an opposite sex (12%). Surrogacy and medically assisted reproduction is more frequently desired among men aged 35 or above (82% in men aged >35 vs. 69% in men aged 18-24, p<.05), and among men who preferred to have the first child after 35 years (77% first child after 35 years vs. 61% first child before 35 years, p<.05). However, among those who preferred surrogacy and assisted reproduction, only 6% had ever received semen analysis, and over 17% had no knowledge of the legality of surrogacy arrangements in Taiwan. Further, bisexual men were more likely than homosexual men to endorse marriage with an opposite sex as a preferred method of family formation (36% vs. 6%, p<.001). Preferred method of family formation is not correlated with relationship status or education level. The majority of gay and bisexual men wish to have children via adoption or surrogacy and ART albeit reporting low reproductive awareness. The rarity of fertility-optimising behaviours and inadequate awareness of legality issues in this Taiwanese sample highlights the importance for accessible fertility- and treatment-/adoption-related resources among sexual minority communities.