Hearing the Voices of Lesbian Women Having Children

Abstract

Though the path is laden with barriers, lesbian women are choosing to become mothers in greater numbers than previously seen. This reproductive path is weighed down with complex social messages (e.g., lesbians should not want to be mothers, they cannot be adequate mothers, their relationships are less valued than marriages, and their sexual orientation may even harm their children). Grounded in phenomenological pedagogy, the goal of this paper is to give a voice to these women as they answer the question “What is the most difficult thing for a lesbian woman while she is deciding to enter or avoid motherhood?” Overcoming the logistics of starting a family, financial strain of legalizing relationships, losing social and family support, facing obstructive laws, and a fear of confronting homophobia in society were the primary fears reported by respondents. Discussion of the significance of findings and implications are presented.

KEYWORDS:

• lesbian
• motherhood
• qualitative research
• homophobia
• lesbian parenting