Periodic Reporting for period 1 - LGBTQ Parenthood (Parenthood and Parental Desires among LGBTQ People: Generational and Cross-national Perspectives)
Periodo di rendicontazione: 2021-05-01 al 2023-04-30
LGBT rights and non-discrimination policies towards gender and sexual orientation are at the top of the European Union’s priorities. Over the last decades, Western countries greatly improved the legal recognition of LGBTQ families, while an increasingly part of them are allowing same-sex couples to marry and to access adoption process and/or artificial reproductive technologies (ART). In France, same-sex couples can adopt children since their legal possibility to marry in 2013, but as there are very few minor children to adopt through the accredited adoption agencies, most of them try to develop other possibilities by conceiving their own biological children. The dramatic changes in the legal contexts simultaneously imply a generational shift in the routes to parenthood among LGBTQ people. However, the legal restriction preventing single women and women couples to access ART and the prohibition of surrogacy in France compel same-sex couples to engage "procreative migrations" in other countries, which carry economic inequalities. People who face strong barriers to achieve their parental desires thus may be lest satisfied with their life, face higher risks of depression and feel less support within their families of origin. Therefore, while most research focused on well-being among children raised by same-sex couples, access to parenthood also raises mental health issues among LGBTQ adults. Cross-national insights between France and US, using mixed methods in the two countries, will then highlight policy effects in the family lives of gender and sexual minorities, and thus challenge policy makers. The analysis of LGBTQ parenthood across generations will also contributing to enlighten social change. Consequently, the research project will lead to better understanding of LGBTQ
families and the challenge they face, but also to initiating scientific discussions in France concerning their inclusion in surveys and research works.
families and the challenge they face, but also to initiating scientific discussions in France concerning their inclusion in surveys and research works.
The research project described three main goals:
(1) to study pathways to parenthood and variations between groups among LGBTQ people; (2) to analyze the effects of parenthood compared to childlessness on social norms, and also on mental health and relationships;
(3) by intersecting these two goals, to illuminate policy effects on family lives through the perspective of French and US data.
Previous researches have shown that same-sex couples are raising children less frequently than in the past decade, which must be due to challenges encountered through the various process they face to have children on their own rather than in previous heterosexual relationships. Despite this, analyses concerning the ways people became parents are barely provided, and no detailed results include comparative perspectives between groups. LGB people now come out at younger ages than before, which probably reflects social changes in sexual orientation identities. Social constraints for LGB who sometimes lived in heterosexual relationships while being emotionally involved with someone of the same sex are thus probably lower than previously. This requires comparing the experience of parenthood in different age cohorts of LGBTQ people.
Pathways to parenthood must greatly vary depending on gender and sexual identity, and have changed over time:
Our research work shows that format pathways to parenthood (artificial reproductive technologies, adoption) are more common among younger LGBTQ adults, bisexual individuals, and respondents living in states with more progressive policies.
Parenthood may produce better relationships with families of origin compared to childlessness:
Our research work shows that accessing parenthood as LGBTQ can both lead to more acceptance or more rejection within families of origin – and that becoming a parent sometimes leads to unexpected coming out, while making same-sex families more visible.
Subsequently, LGBTQ non-parents may face higher mental health problems than LGBTQ parents do:
Our research work shows that, compared to childfree adults, LGBTQ parents report higher rates of several diseases (i.e. heart diseases, ulcers, and sleep disorders). Those results might be due to specific parental stress and discrimination experienced by LGBTQ parents – as being a parent makes them more visible.
Our results show major and important scientific achievements, such as: major state differences in pathways to parenthood for LGBTQ people, health differences between LGBTQ parents and childfree adults, or effects of parenthood on family relations and disclosure among family members.
(1) to study pathways to parenthood and variations between groups among LGBTQ people; (2) to analyze the effects of parenthood compared to childlessness on social norms, and also on mental health and relationships;
(3) by intersecting these two goals, to illuminate policy effects on family lives through the perspective of French and US data.
Previous researches have shown that same-sex couples are raising children less frequently than in the past decade, which must be due to challenges encountered through the various process they face to have children on their own rather than in previous heterosexual relationships. Despite this, analyses concerning the ways people became parents are barely provided, and no detailed results include comparative perspectives between groups. LGB people now come out at younger ages than before, which probably reflects social changes in sexual orientation identities. Social constraints for LGB who sometimes lived in heterosexual relationships while being emotionally involved with someone of the same sex are thus probably lower than previously. This requires comparing the experience of parenthood in different age cohorts of LGBTQ people.
Pathways to parenthood must greatly vary depending on gender and sexual identity, and have changed over time:
Our research work shows that format pathways to parenthood (artificial reproductive technologies, adoption) are more common among younger LGBTQ adults, bisexual individuals, and respondents living in states with more progressive policies.
Parenthood may produce better relationships with families of origin compared to childlessness:
Our research work shows that accessing parenthood as LGBTQ can both lead to more acceptance or more rejection within families of origin – and that becoming a parent sometimes leads to unexpected coming out, while making same-sex families more visible.
Subsequently, LGBTQ non-parents may face higher mental health problems than LGBTQ parents do:
Our research work shows that, compared to childfree adults, LGBTQ parents report higher rates of several diseases (i.e. heart diseases, ulcers, and sleep disorders). Those results might be due to specific parental stress and discrimination experienced by LGBTQ parents – as being a parent makes them more visible.
Our results show major and important scientific achievements, such as: major state differences in pathways to parenthood for LGBTQ people, health differences between LGBTQ parents and childfree adults, or effects of parenthood on family relations and disclosure among family members.
The work carried out enhance innovation capacity in the way that working on the Generations Study made me aware of methodological innovation to lead surveys on LGBTQ adults. I am confident that this experience will help me finding opportunities for leading this kind of survey in Europe in the future. There are also benefits for society more broadly, such as greater knowledge on LGBTQ parents – that I shared with a broader community (media, but also social workers, nurses and midwives).
Besides, the conference I organized at the University of Texas at Austin in 2023 (“Gender and Sexual Minority Families: Changes and Evolution”) also constituted the first step for future collaborations between France and the U.S. It gathered researchers from the two countries, launched discussions between them, and gave them ideas for cross-national research projects. It also provided them with more information on European funding and fellowships, to which they could be willing to apply for in the future.
Our work contributes towards European policy objectives, such as better protective rights related to sexual orientation, as well as better inclusion and recognition of gender and sexual minority families. Our work also has impact in policy making, such as improving policies towards access to parenthood for LGBTQ people. Our research is thus useful for researchers, students, policy makers and associations – both in France and in the U.S.
No website has been created for the project.
Besides, the conference I organized at the University of Texas at Austin in 2023 (“Gender and Sexual Minority Families: Changes and Evolution”) also constituted the first step for future collaborations between France and the U.S. It gathered researchers from the two countries, launched discussions between them, and gave them ideas for cross-national research projects. It also provided them with more information on European funding and fellowships, to which they could be willing to apply for in the future.
Our work contributes towards European policy objectives, such as better protective rights related to sexual orientation, as well as better inclusion and recognition of gender and sexual minority families. Our work also has impact in policy making, such as improving policies towards access to parenthood for LGBTQ people. Our research is thus useful for researchers, students, policy makers and associations – both in France and in the U.S.
No website has been created for the project.