Childless Bisexual and Gay Men’s Expectations of Obstacles and Enabling Factors for Pursuing Parenthood

Abstract

This article concerns childless bisexual and gay men’s expectations of potential future fatherhood. Social context, biological prerequisites and legal restrictions have in previous research proven to be complicating factors in the process of starting a family. This article investigates the experience of 14 bisexual and gay men in Sweden who are contemplating parenthood. Semi-structured interviews were conducted. The interviews were analyzed using grounded theory methodology, resulting in a model that identified obstructing and enabling factors in realizing future parenthood. The path to parenthood was seen as a process containing both the decision to pursue parenthood and the belief that parenthood was a possibility. The process toward parthood was not linear, but a pendular movement, affected by obstructing factors and enabling factors. One of the main findings was the experience of invisibility in relation to involuntary childlessness amongst bisexual and gay men. Simultaneously, the possibility to break this invisibility, to become a parental role model for other bisexual and gay men, and to revise images of the nuclear family were strong motivating factors. The findings are discussed in relation to Swedish gay men and fathers’ social situation.