Sexual minority women and parenthood: Perceptions of friendship among childfree and new parents

Abstract

Many individuals experience shifts in their friendship networks after becoming parents. The current study investigated the narratives of how a sample of sixty-six sexual minority women, most of whom do not yet have children but who expect to be parents in the future, perceive the changes in friendship networks following becoming parents. A thematic analysis uncovered three themes: (1) general expectations surrounding future parenthood and friendships; (2) changes in lifestyle and priorities; and (3) LGBTQ + community attachment. Further, the theme of general expectations surrounding future parenthood and friendships was largely represented among lesbian and queer women, while the theme of changes in lifestyle and priorities was predominately represented among lesbian women, and finally, the theme of LGBTQ + community attachment was shared among all sexual minority women in our sample across different sexual identities. We discuss the diversity of shared and non-shared narratives among sexual minority women, the intentionality in how friendship during parenthood is perceived, as well as why some themes were particularly prevalent among women with specific sexual identities.