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How do lesbian couples compare with heterosexual in vitro fertilization and spontaneously pregnant couples when it comes to parenting stress?
Author(s) -
Borneskog C,
Lampic C,
Sydsjö G,
Bladh M,
Skoog Svanberg A
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
acta paediatrica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.772
H-Index - 115
eISSN - 1651-2227
pISSN - 0803-5253
DOI - 10.1111/apa.12568
Subject(s) - lesbian , medicine , pregnancy , in vitro fertilisation , developmental psychology , clinical psychology , social support , psychology , social psychology , genetics , psychoanalysis , biology
Aim To study parenting stress in lesbian parents and to compare that stress with heterosexual parents following in vitro fertilisation ( IVF ) or spontaneous pregnancies. Methods This survey took place during 2005–2008 and was part of the S wedish multicentre study on gamete donation. It comprised 131 lesbian parents, 83 heterosexual IVF parents, who used their own gametes, and 118 spontaneous pregnancy parents. The participants responded to the questionnaire when the child was between 12 and 36‐months‐old and parenting stress was measured by the S wedish P arenting S tress Q uestionnaire ( SPSQ ). Results Lesbian parents experienced less parenting stress than heterosexual IVF parents when it came to the G eneral P arenting S tress measure (p = 0.001) and the subareas of Incompetence (p < 0.001), Social Isolation (p = 0.033) and R ole R estriction (p = 0.004). They also experienced less parenting stress than heterosexual spontaneous pregnancy couples, according to the S ocial I solation subarea (p = 0.003). Birth mothers experienced higher stress than co‐mothers and fathers, according to the Role Restriction measure (p = 0.041). Conclusion These are reassuring findings, considering the known challenges that lesbian families face in establishing their parental roles and, in particular, the challenges related to the lack of recognition of the co‐mother.