Parenting desires, parenting intentions, and anticipation of stigma upon parenthood among lesbian, bisexual, and heterosexual women in Portugal

Abstract

We explored parenting desires, parenting intentions, and anticipation of stigma upon parenthood in a sample of 257 self-identified lesbian, bisexual, and heterosexual childfree women in Portugal. No differences between the groups were observed concerning parenting desires. However, lesbian and bisexual women reported lower intentions to have children than their heterosexual counterparts. Although lesbian women considered themselves to have a higher chance of being victims of social stigma as mothers, this was not associated with their parenting desires. Furthermore, younger lesbian women intended to have children to a greater extent than did older lesbian women; relational status did not relate to lesbian women’s parenting intentions, desires, or anticipation of stigma. Overall, this study contributes to knowledge about family formation processes among Portuguese women diverse in sexual identity.

Keywords:

• Parenting desires
• parenting intentions
• stigma
• lesbian women

Additional information

Funding

This work was funded by the Center for Psychology at the University of Porto, Portuguese Science Foundation (FCT UID/PSI/00050/2013) and EU FEDER through COMPETE 2020 program (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-007294).

Notes on contributors

Jorge Gato

Jorge Gato, Ph.D., is a Researcher at the Faculty of Psychology and Education Sciences, University of Porto (FPCEUP), Portugal. He is currently interested in the parenting plans of LGBT individuals, as well as in the training of professionals who work with current or prospective LGBT-parented families.

Daniela Leal

Daniela Leal has a Masters in Clinical and Health Psychology and is a Doctoral student at the FPCEUP, with a fellowship from the Portuguese Science Foundation.

Fiona Tasker

Fiona Tasker, Ph.D., is a Reader in Psychology at the Department of Psychological Sciences, Birkbeck University of London, specializing in family psychology and systemic family therapy. Using both quantitative and qualitative research techniques, Fiona has published widely on the psychosocial implications of both non-traditional and new family forms for parents and children, in heterosexual and LGBTQ-parented families.