Heterosexual Mothers Research Articles

レズビアンの娘と異性愛の母親との関係における異性愛規範性の交渉

レズビアンの娘と異性愛の母親との関係における異性愛規範性の交渉

Preconceito e intolerância: considerações sobre a obstinação e a obsessão

This paper discusses the construction of heterosexual mothers’ rejection and/or acceptance discourses with respect to the homosexuality of their offspring, as well as the resulting passional trajectories of the mother and offspring bond, both themes developed in our PhD thesis. Our active participation in a parental LGB support group, GPH – Grupo de Pais de Homossexuais, allows for the assumption that mothers face difficulty in accepting their children’s homosexuality. Considering the conflicting relationship established in the disclosure and process of acceptance of their offspring’s sexual orientation and in search of its resulting passions, gays’ and lesbians’ mothers’ presential and non-presential testimonies were analyzed. Based on the discursive interpretations and appreciations conveyed, the enunciations built a narrator (mother) who established the point of view of a discursive observer. From this corpus, the type of semiotic interaction taking place between mothers and their offspring was studied. For this, we privileged the analysis of passional configurations related to prejudice and intolerance, besides others, hypothetically assumed as typical of this trajectory, such as despair, obstinacy, and obsession, all of which passional, thematic and figurative configurations which link the enunciations and the social and discursive formations available. Finally, we pointed out and exemplified the semiotic difference in the recurring passions in the testimonies: despair, obstinacy, and obsession.

Children's adjustment in non‐traditional families in Israel: the effect of parental sexual orientation and the number of parents on children's development

This study examined differences in children's psychological and social indicators in non-traditional families in Israel, focusing on fatherless families headed by lesbian mothers and single mothers by choice. Although Israel is considered an industrialized westernized country, centrality of the traditional nuclear family predominates this country. This factorial design study included four family types: lesbian and heterosexual mothers, each in both single and coupled parenthood. Children's measures included the Child Behavior Checklist, perception of peer relations and perceived self-competence. Children from single parent as opposed to two-parent families exhibited more externalizing behaviour problems and aggressiveness. Children of lesbian mothers reported more prosocial behaviours and less loneliness than children from heterosexual families. No differences emerged for perceived self-competence across family types. Mother's sexual orientation did not affect children's adjustment negatively, whereas single parenthood placed children at greater risk for some difficulties. Implications include the need for apprising health professionals of effects of family types on children's development.

The Neutered Parent

Despite family law’s broader recognition of nonmarital sexualities and nonmarital parental status in the past forty years, marriage has continued to shape the legal and social experiences of parents in a critical aspect of their lives — sexuality. Encompassing sexual behavior and sexual orientation, the sexuality of parents has curiously drawn little attention in legal scholarship, except in contexts the law has deemed aberrant. This Article breaks ground by widening the lens on parental sexuality to examine how the law’s conventional framing of evaluations of parental sexuality obscures the marriage-based structure of these appraisals.The law of custody and visitation, in particular, reveals a legal and social preference for that perceived as “sexually neutral” parenting, an ideal that assumes that parenting can and should occur far removed from parents’ sexuality. As I argue in this Article, family law has premised this ideal on a dichotomy of parental sexuality based on marriage and on traditional, gendered norms of parental sexuality within marriage. Parents hewing to traditional marriage-based norms of parental sexuality have been held up as embodying a “sexually neutral” baseline, pursuant to which their sexuality fails to register as problematic. By contrast, parents who have strayed from these norms — historically, sexually active heterosexual mothers and lesbian and gay parents — have tended to be perceived as “sexually salient.” The legal construction of a parent as “sexually neutral” or “sexually salient” shapes how courts assess harm in making child placement decisions and promises to influence evaluations of parental fitness across a variety of evolving family law contexts, including same-sex marriage.The dichotomization of parental sexuality based on marriage obscures the ability to assess actual harm to children. Moreover, this treatment of parental sexuality “neuters” parents. It metaphorically diminishes their sexual capacity by forcing sexually nonconforming parents to adhere to a standard of sexual neutrality that is fundamentally structured in opposition to them. Moreover, it undermines parents’ ability to achieve the laudable goal of experiencing meaningful adult-oriented parental sexuality in the context of successful parenting.

Homoparentalité et développement de l’enfant : données actuelles

Le terme d’homoparentalité définit un couple d’homosexuel(le)s ayant un enfant à charge et concernerait 200 000 à 300 000 enfants en France aujourd’hui. L’étude de l’homoparentalité en pédopsychiatrie se heurte à plusieurs limites, notamment méthodologiques : définition des familles homoparentales, difficulté d’échantillonnage, rareté de consultation dans les services de psychiatrie de l’enfant. Plusieurs dizaines d’études avec des questionnaires standardisés et des entretiens semi-structurés n’ont pas montré de différence entre les enfants de familles homoparentales et les enfants de familles hétérosexuelles en termes de développement, de capacités cognitives, d’identité ou d’orientation sexuelle. La relative faiblesse des effectifs est une donnée à prendre en compte. La plupart des études de la littérature portent sur des enfants jeunes (de quatre à 16 ans) et une seule étude s’est intéressée au système d’attachement de femmes adultes élevées dans une famille dont le père était gay, révélant que ces femmes avaient plus de problèmes dans leur vie intime que les femmes élevées dans des familles hétérosexuelles. Le ressenti des enfants de familles homoparentales vis-à-vis de leurs pairs, de la différence et de la discrimination dépend de la culture de chaque pays et n’a pas été évalué à notre connaissance à ce jour en France par des questionnaires standardisés. Notre pratique de pédopsychiatre doit trouver de nouveaux repères pour comprendre les enjeux et les difficultés de ces configurations pour une meilleure empathie avec l’enfant et sa famille. The aim of this article is to provide an overview of existing studies on gay and lesbian parenthood and child development. Although 200,000 to 300,000 children could be concerned in 2010 in France, there is a lack of research on this issue in our country. Research among children raised by homosexual parents involves methodological issues, such as defining homosexual families, sampling cases and controls, and choosing structured or semi-structured evaluations. The fact that homosexual marriage, adoption and insemination are not presently legal in France could explain that only one study has been conducted in France in 2000 among 58 children raided by homosexual parents. This study concluded that these children did not show an increased rate of behavior or anxiety disorders. Concerns about lesbian parenting have focused on the absence of a father, the homosexual orientation of the mother, and their negative consequences on the development of the children. Research on parenting and child rearing has repeatedly compared lesbian and heterosexual families, and in the last 30 years a growing body of studies on lesbian parents and the development of their children has been published. Studies about child development, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender role behavior, emotional/behavioral development, social relationships and cognitive functioning showed no difference between children of lesbian mothers and those of heterosexual parents. Likewise, parental functioning, the mothers’ psychological health and maternal skills were not significantly different among lesbian mothers than among heterosexual mothers. In studies concerning gay fathers, findings generally indicate no differences in sexual orientation, socialization, or psychological outcomes in children of gay fathers compared to children of heterosexual fathers. However, the first study on the adult attachment style dimensions of adult women who had gay or bisexual fathers suggested that they were significantly less comfortable with closeness and intimacy, less able to trust and depend on others, and experienced more anxiety in relationships than women with heterosexual fathers. This survey has not been argued among lesbian families or coparentality. Variables related to family processes, such as relationship quality, are currently considered more important predictors of children's adjustment in homosexual families than sexual orientation. The major part of the literature focused on children aged four to 16 and the small sample size (often less than 30 children) limit the validity of these data. However, very little is known about psychological characteristics or well-being of adult children of lesbian and gay parents, and research should be pursued in the future. Social relationships of children raised by homosexual families, their experience of difference, and the discrimination are also likely to vary with the culture of each country and was not evaluated to our knowledge to date in cross-cultural studies using standardized questionnaires. Our practice must find new reference marks to understand the stakes and the difficulties of these configurations for a better empathy with the child and his/her family.

Comparative Relationship Stability of Lesbian Mother and Heterosexual Mother Families: A Review of Evidence

It has been concluded from a review of the literature involving only one study that lesbian parents were more likely to have unstable relationships. Other scholars have struggled with considerable controversy over how much was or was not known about the stability of lesbian parent relationships as well as whether such relationships were more or less stable than heterosexual parent relationships. Arguments have been made on all sides of the issues. A careful review of the literature suggests that more is known about the stability of lesbian parent relationships than previously suspected and that, on average, such relationships tend to be less stable than those of married heterosexual parents. Less is understood about the factors that may influence relationship stability for gay or lesbian parents, creating a critical need for additional research, especially with different demographic subgroups of lesbian and gay parents.

Relations between social support and psychological and parental distress for lesbian, single heterosexual by choice, and two-parent heterosexual mothers.

Relations between family type and psychological and parental distress and the moderating role of social support were studied for 90 Israeli lesbian mothers, single heterosexual mothers by choice and 2-parent heterosexual mothers who completed measures of psychological distress, well-being, parental distress, and direct and indirect social support. Findings indicated differences on psychological and parental outcome between mothers from the two heterosexual groups. Social support was higher for lesbian than single heterosexual mothers and was correlated with psychological and parental indices. Unique because of the distinctive demographics of Israeli society (especially in relation to Western Europe and North America), this study highlights ways in which social and individual processes affect psychological outcomes among minority groups.

Children raised in mother-headed families from infancy: a follow-up of children of lesbian and single heterosexual mothers, at early adulthood

The present investigation constituted the third phase of a longitudinal study of the quality of parent-child relationships and the psychological adjustment of children in female-headed families with no father present from infancy. In this study, 27 families headed by single heterosexual mothers (solo mothers) and 20 families headed by lesbian mothers were compared with 36 two-parent heterosexual families as the child entered adulthood. Data were obtained from mothers and their young adult children by standardized interviews and questionnaires. The female-headed families were found to be similar to the traditional families on a range of measures of quality of parenting and young adults' psychological adjustment. Where differences were identified between family types, these pointed to more positive family relationships and greater psychological wellbeing among young adults raised in female-headed homes. The findings of this study show that children raised by solo heterosexual mothers or lesbian mothers from infancy continue to function well as they enter adulthood. The findings are of relevance to the UK Human Fertilisation and Embryology (2008) Act.

Teaching & Learning Guide for: Queer Theory and its Future in Psychology: Exploring Issues of Race Privilege

Teaching & Learning Guide for: Queer Theory and its Future in Psychology: Exploring Issues of Race Privilege

Legal and social contexts and mental health among lesbian and heterosexual mothers.

This study examines the role of legal and social context (the level of legal and social support offered by one's country of residence) and sexual orientation in the mental health of lesbian and heterosexual mothers. Participants were sampled from the United States and Canada because the two countries have many similarities (North American location, reliance on English language, and democratic structures) but provide different legal and social rights to their lesbian citizens. The study included 52 lesbian mothers and 153 heterosexual mothers in the United States and 35 lesbian mothers and 42 heterosexual mothers in Canada. Although there were no differences between heterosexual mothers as a function of legal and social context, lesbian mothers from the United States reported more family worries about legal status and discrimination (but not more general family worries) and more depressive symptoms than did lesbian mothers in Canada. Results indicate that legal and social context moderates the role of sexual orientation in maternal mental health.

Social and Demographic Characteristics of Gay, Lesbian, and Heterosexual Adults with and Without Children

SUMMARY This is the first study to compare lesbian mothers (n = 150), lesbians without children (n = 236), heterosexual mothers (n = 175), heterosexual women without children (n = 38), gay fathers (n = 40), gay men without children (n = 163), heterosexual fathers (n = 157), and heterosexual men without children (n = 32) on social and demographic characteristics. Demographic differences included age, education, length of relationship, religion, and geographic location. Only 28% of gay fathers and 37% of lesbian mothers had at least one child from their current relationship. For women the most important factor in predicting contact with family of origin was sexual orientation, while for men it was parenting status. More gay and lesbian parents had disclosed their sexual orientation than those without children. Gay fathers reached most milestones in the coming-out process between 2.5 and 4 years later than gay men without children, while lesbian mothers reached all milestones in the coming-out process 3 to 5 years later than lesbians without children. Lesbian mothers who had children before coming out reached developmental milestones 4 to 8 years later than lesbian mothers who had children after coming out.

Two Moms and a Baby

Lesbian mothers are often excluded from the experiences, wisdom, and folklore shared by heterosexual mothers. Their support system may not include other lesbian mothers, and fear and hatred may prevent heterosexual mothers from sharing their experiences with lesbians. Moreover, the wisdom often passed from mother to daughter is often denied to lesbians who have been rejected by their family of origin, or whose family of origin disapproves of lesbian motherhood. These circumstances leave lesbian couples choosing motherhood few options for information and support-prompting many to turn to professionals. This paper provides research-based answers to the many questions future lesbian parents may have as they begin to explore bringing a child into their lives. It also provides a list of questions counselors may want to explore as they begin a counseling relationship with a lesbian couple choosing motherhood.

The Lesbian June Cleaver: Heterosexism and Lesbian Mothering

For many of us, entry into motherhood involves an ambiguous visibility and intelligibility, where our acceptance into mainstream spaces as mothers entails a loss of lesbian difference. Mann explores this loss using the work of two philosophers of lesbian difference, Monique Wittig and Judith Butler. She argues that the figure of the lesbian mother is deployed on a broad cultural scale to reinvigorate and renaturaUze the myth of the happy, natural, heterosexual mother.

The Lesbian June Cleaver: Heterosexism and Lesbian Mothering

For many of us, entry into motherhood involves an ambiguous visibility and intelligibility, where our acceptance into mainstream spaces as mothers entails a loss of lesbian difference. Mann explores this loss using the work of two philosophers of lesbian difference, Monique Wittig and Judith Butler. She argues that the figure of the lesbian mother is deployed on a broad cultural scale to reinvigorate and renaturaUze the myth of the happy, natural, heterosexual mother.

“No Way My Boys Are Going to Be Like That!”

Drawing on qualitative interviews with parents of preschool children, the author addresses parental responses to children’s gender nonconformity. The author’s analyses indicate that parents welcome what they perceive as gender nonconformity among their young daughters, while their responses in relation to sons are more complex. Many parents across racial and class backgrounds accept or encourage some tendencies they consider atypical for boys. But this acceptance is balanced by efforts to approximate hegemonic ideals of masculinity. The author considers these patterns in the context of gender as an interactional accomplishment, demonstrating that parents are often consciously aware of their own role in accomplishing gender with and for their sons. Heterosexual fathers are especially likely to be motivated in that accomplishment work by their own personal endorsement of hegemonic masculinity, while heterosexual mothers and gay parents are more likely to be motivated by accountability to others in relation to those ideals.

Perinatal Mental Health in Lesbian Mothers: A Review of Potential Risk and Protective Factors

ABSTRACT Postpartum depression and other perinatal mental illnesses are common complications of childbirth. The majority of research on these conditions has been conducted in heterosexual women; however, increasing numbers of women are choosing to parent in the context of lesbian relationships. Although many of the fundamental aspects of the transition to parenthood are shared between lesbian and heterosexual mothers, lesbian mothers may differ from heterosexual parents on a number of variables that have been previously associated with perinatal mental health. Lesbian mothers may be more likely than their heterosexual peers to lack social support, particularly from their families of origin, and may be exposed to additional stress due to homophobic discrimination. However, the likelihood that lesbian pregnancies will be planned, together with the relatively equal division of child- care labour observed in lesbian couples, may offer protection from perinatal depression. The study of perinatal mental health in lesbian mothers is warranted, both to ensure that the mental health needs of this largely invisible population are being met, and to further illuminate the role of psychosocial stress in perinatal mental health in all women.

Determinants of Active Leisure for Women with Young Children—an “Ethic of Care” Prevails

Women are significantly less likely than men to participate in physically active leisure. Women with children are less likely to participate in active leisure compared with women who do not have children. Social pressure to fulfil the role of being a good mother has been suggested in discussions regarding constraints to physical activity as has the use of leisure engagement as a means of challenging social expectations and structured gender relations. This study explored determinants of active leisure participation through in-depth interviews with 12 heterosexual mothers of young children who were purposively sampled with contrasting levels of partner support, physical activity, and socioeconomic status. The findings suggested that household norms relating to gender-based time negotiation and ideologies regarding an ethic of care were important determinants of active leisure among women with young children. A better understanding of these issues could be important in the development of strategies for promoting greater participation in physical activity among women.

The Hetero-Gay Family

The hetero-gay family is a relatively new family configuration that is headed by a heterosexual mother and gay father who conceive and raise children together, although residing separately. This article presents the unique characteristics of hetero-gay families and the potential implications for child development of growing up in a het-ero-gay family. Recent research on non-marital motherhood and fatherhood among gay men is used to inform the debate. Comparisons of hetero-gay families to other family configurations help highlight central issues and offer directions for future research.

Unusual families

The introduction of assisted reproduction has led to unusual forms of procreation. This article describes the social consequences of lesbian motherhood and of families headed by single heterosexual mothers.

The Paradox of the Lesbian Worker

Common sense might suggest that lesbian workers are doubly disadvantaged due to their gender and their stigmatized sexual orientation. But empirical research documents that lesbian workers earn more than their heterosexual women peers. This article considers two reasons for the economic advantage of lesbian workers. First, because lesbians must provide for themselves and their children, they may pursue nontraditional, higher‐paying jobs and show increased work motivation. Second, stereotypes may depict lesbians, including lesbian mothers, as competent and committed workers. A review of available research is augmented with data from a study of 162 college students. Results indicate that motherhood detracts from the perceived work commitment and competence of heterosexual mothers but not lesbian mothers. Directions for future research are considered.