Gay fathers through cross-border surrogacy during the COVID-19 pandemic: Implications for mental health and father–child bonding

Abstract

Design: Between 20 March–29 July 2020, this cross-sectional case-control study collected data on father–child bonding quality, depression, anxiety, and somatization in 30 Italian gay fathers (n\u202f=\u202f15 families) who were having or successfully had a child through cross-border surrogacy during the COVID-19 pandemic. These fathers were compared to a sociodemographically similar group of 50 Italian gay fathers (n\u202f=\u202f25 families) who had children through cross-border surrogacy prior to the pandemic. Results : Although father–child bonding quality and fathers’ mental health symptoms scored below the clinical cut-off points in both groups, fathers who had or were having a child during the COVID-19 pandemic reported poorer father–child bonding (estimate\u202f=\u202f3.04, SE\u202f=\u202f1.47, p\u202f=\u202f.044) and more depressive (estimate\u202f=\u202f-1.47, SE\u202f=\u202f0.49, p\u202f=\u202f.005), anxious (estimate\u202f=\u202f-1.96, SE\u202f=\u202f0.55, p Conclusions : The findings call for the development of international guidelines for cross-border surrogacy and underline the need for tailored and ongoing psychological and legal support for intended gay fathers to ease their strain and anxiety related to having a child through cross-border surrogacy during the COVID-19 pandemic.