The Desire for More Children Among Israeli Lesbian, Gay, and Heterosexual Couples Who Became Parents Through Assisted Reproduction

The present online questionnaire-based study compared 72 lesbian mothers by donor insemination (within 36 families), 78 gay fathers by gestational surrogacy (within 39 families), and 72 heterosexual parents by assisted reproduction (without donated eggs and/or sperm; within 36 families), on their de...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of family psychology 2022-12, Vol.36 (8), p.1480-1486
Main Authors: Shenkman, Geva, Carone, Nicola, D'Amore, Salvatore, Mouton, Bénédicte, Bos, Henny M. W.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Artificial insemination
Aspiration
Attribution
Children
Cisgender
Couples
Desire
Eggs
Families & family life
Family
Female
Gays & lesbians
Heterosexuality
Homosexual fathers
Homosexual parents
Homosexuality
Human
Lesbianism
Male
Male Homosexuality
Mothers
Parents
Parents & parenting
Policy making
Positive emotions
Reproductive Technology
Sexual Minority Groups
Sexual orientation
Sperm
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Summary:The present online questionnaire-based study compared 72 lesbian mothers by donor insemination (within 36 families), 78 gay fathers by gestational surrogacy (within 39 families), and 72 heterosexual parents by assisted reproduction (without donated eggs and/or sperm; within 36 families), on their desire to have more children and their ideal number of children. All participants self-identified as cisgender, lived in Israel, and had a mean number of two children. The study also explored the predictors of participants' desire for more children. Multilevel modeling analyses indicated that, when participants' actual number of children was controlled for, lesbian and gay parents did not differ from heterosexual parents on their desire for more children and their ideal number of children. Parents' younger age, greater positivity, and lower attribution of responsibility to children for misbehavior, in addition to a lower discrepancy between their actual and ideal number of children, were associated with greater desire for more children. The results suggest that lesbian and gay parenthood may mark an entrance to the Israeli familistic "mainstream," which, in turn, may decrease differences in parenthood aspirations as a function of sexual orientation. The study contributes to the scant literature on the desire for more than one child among parents in diverse family configurations. It further provides family researchers and policy makers with vital information on the most influential factors associated with the desire for more children among lesbian, gay, and heterosexual parents.
ISSN:0893-3200
1939-1293
DOI:10.1037/fam0001024