Fiona Tasker

Do Parents Influence the Sexual Orientation of Their Children? Findings from a Longitudinal Study of Lesbian Families.

Findings are presented of a longitudinal study of the sexual orientation of adults who had been raised as children in lesbian families. Twenty-five children of lesbian mothers and a control group of 21 children of heterosexual single mothers were first seen at age 9.5 years on average, and again at age 23.5 years on average. Standardized interviews were used to obtain data on sexual orientation from the young adults in the follow-up study, and on family characteristics and childrens gender role behavior from the mothers and their children in the initial study. Although those from lesbian families were more likely to explore same-sex relationships, particularly if their childhood family environment was characterized by an openness and acceptance of lesbian and gay relationships, the large majority of children who grew up in lesbian families identified as heterosexual. Opinion varies among biological and psychological theorists regarding the extent to which it is possible for parents to influence the sexual orientation of their children. From a purely biological perspective, parents should make little difference. In contrast, psychoanalytic theorists believe that relationships with parents in childhood are central to the development of sexual orientation in adult life. Research on adults raised in lesbian families provides an opportunity to test theoretical assumptions about the role of parents in their childrens sexual orientation; if parents are influential in whether their children grow up to be heterosexual, lesbian, or gay, then it might be expected that lesbian parents would be more likely than heterosexual parents to have lesbian daughters and gay sons. With the exception of Gottmans (1990) investigation of adult daughters of lesbian mothers in which actual sexual behavior was not reported, research on lesbian families has focused on children rather than adults, and sexual orientation has not been assessed (Golombok, Spencer, & Rutter, 1983; Green, Mandel, Hotvedt, Gray,SHoeffer, 1981; Kirkpatrick, Smith, & Roy,

Lesbian Mothers, Gay Fathers, and Their Children: A Review

ABSTRACT. There is a variety of families headed by a lesbian or gay male parent or same-sex couple. Findings from research suggest that children with lesbian or gay parents are comparable with children with heterosexual parents on key psychosocial developmental outcomes. In many ways, children of lesbian or gay parents have similar experiences of family life compared with children in heterosexual families. Some special considerations apply to the context of lesbian and gay parenting: variation in family forms, childrens awareness of lesbian and gay relationships, heterosexism, and homophobia. These issues have important implications for managing clinical work with children of lesbian mothers or gay fathers.

Research on Gay and Lesbian Parenting

SUMMARY Gay and lesbian parenting is a fertile research field with many important new developments in content and methodology over the last decade. Gay and lesbian parenting occurs in a wide diversity of famly constellations, yet the cultural context of lesbian and gay parenting is a neglected topic. The relative depth of knowledge of lesbian parenting is contrasted with the lack of research on gay male parenting across different routes to parenthood. Gay and lesbian parenting researchers have employed a wide variety of methodological designs in their investigations, and the field has benefited from the employment of quantitative and qualitative techniques to investigate developmental outcomes for children and increase understanding of the variety of experiences of gay and lesbian parenthood. This review highlights significant developments in the field and suggests new directions.

Adoptive Gay Father Families: Parent-Child Relationships and Children's Psychological Adjustment.

Findings are presented on a U.K. study of 41 gay father families, 40 lesbian mother families, and 49 heterosexual parent families with an adopted child aged 3–9 years. Standardized interview and observational and questionnaire measures of parental well-being, quality of parent–child relationships, child adjustment, and child sex-typed behavior were administered to parents, children, and teachers. The findings indicated more positive parental well-being and parenting in gay father families compared to heterosexual parent families. Child externalizing problems were greater among children in heterosexual families. Family process variables, particularly parenting stress, rather than family type were found to be predictive of child externalizing problems. The findings contribute to theoretical understanding of the role of parental gender and parental sexual orientation in child development.

Children in Lesbian-Led Families: A Review:

There are an increasing number of children who are being brought up in lesbian- led families. Research on non-clinical samples of children raised in lesbian-led families formed after parental divorce, together with studies of children raised in families planned by a single lesbian mother or lesbian couple, suggest that growing up in a lesbian-led family does not have negative effects on key developmental outcomes. In many ways family life for children growing up in lesbian-led families is similar to that experienced by children in heterosexual families. In other respects there are important distinctions, such as different types of family forms and the impact of social stigma on the family, that may influence how clinicians approach therapeutic work with children in lesbian mother families.

Long-term effects of the British evacuation of children during World War 2 on their adult mental health

Objectives: This study of 870 respondents aged 62–72 years investigates possible long-term effects on adult mental health due to temporary childhood separation by evacuation in the United Kingdom during World War 2. Method: Using univariate and multivariate analyses associations were examined between upbringing, evacuation experience and certain life-course variables with the lifetime incidence of depression and clinical anxiety, and also with the dependency and self-critical factors of the Depressive Experiences Questionnaire (DEQ) (Blatt, S.J., D’Affitti, J.P., & Quinlan, D.M. (1976). Experiences of depression in normal young adults. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 85, 383–389.) were examined by univariate and multivariate analyses. Results: Those evacuated at a young age, 4–6 years, or who received poor foster care, were found to be at a greater risk of depression and clinical anxiety, with high levels of self-criticism. Compared to other groups respondents evacuated at 13–15 years age, who received good care, had reduced incidences of both affective disorders, comparable to those who were not evacuated. The quality of home nurture was also found to be significantly associated with both disorders. Structural equation models for each sex based on those variables significantly associated with depression explained 45% of the variance of the incidence of depression for males and 25% for females. The models also confirmed the relatively high levels of dependency for females and their vulnerability to these levels in terms of depression. Conclusion: The study demonstrated significant associations between childhood experiences and lifespan mental health, reinforcing the importance of knowledge of childhood history in the clinical treatment of older adults.

Lesbian and Gay Parenting Post-Heterosexual Divorce and Separation

This chapter begins by discussing initial research on same-gender parenting, which addressed theoretical questions on the influence of parenting on children’s social development and empirically investigated pragmatic concerns raised by restrictive divorce settlements. These early studies concurred that children raised by lesbian mothers or gay fathers did not differ from children with heterosexual parents on key developmental outcomes. Other early studies of same-gender parenting post-heterosexual separation and divorce considered stepfamily formation and the coming out processes that families undergo. Subsequent research and scholarly commentaries have challenged the field to use social constructionist and queer theory paradigms. These paradigms have increasingly led researchers to consider the different social realities experienced by children growing up with lesbian or gay parents and suggest that children may engage in a more open-minded consideration of their own psychosexual development. The research field awaits consideration of how parenting post-heterosexual divorce may differ from planned parenting by lesbian and gay parents. Future research studies will need to conceptualize diversity and fluidity in parental sexual orientation and consider contextual variation in parenthood utilizing a variety of different theoretical frameworks and research methodologies.

Children's Views of Family Relationships in Lesbian-Led Families

We present a new genogram technique for exploring childrens conceptualization of family membership: the Apple Tree Family (ATF). The ATF measure was used to investigate how children born to lesbian mothers via donor insemination (DI) described the composition of their family. Data were gathered from 17 children (age 4 to 11 years old) from 15 lesbian-led households on inclusion of family members on the ATF and the Kinetic Family Drawing Test (KFDT) (Burns & Kaufman, 1971). Also, data on childrens inclusion of family members on the ATF were compared with family composition as described by adult family members in a prior interview. Child and adult family members tended to concur on who was in their family, depicting a core unit surrounded by a wider family network that included non-biological and biological kin. In comparison to the KFDT, the ATF enabled children to depict a greater number of family members in a wider variety of non-traditional family relationships. We propose that the ATF is useful as a research and clinical tool for working with the children of GLBTQ parents.

Children and Adolescents with Transsexual Parents Referred to a Specialist Gender Identity Development Service: A Brief Report of Key Developmental Features:

An investigation of the psychosocial development of children of transsexual parents provides a special opportunity to examine whether and how parental gender role influences children’s own gender development, mental health, family relationships and peer relationships. Data on the presence or absence of gender identity disorder, depression, peer relationship difficulties and problems in family relationships among children of transsexual parents were collated from audit of a specialist clinical service. Only 1 female adolescent of the 18 children of transsexual parents recorded temporary concerns with respect to gender identity. Compared with children referred to the same clinical service regarding concerns about their own gender identity, the children of transsexual parents were less depressed and less likely to report peer harassment, persecution or victimization. However, the case notes of children of transsexual parents revealed that this group was more likely to have experienced marital conflict between their parents than were children referred with gender identity concerns and as likely to record difficulties in parent-child relationships and general difficulties with peer relationships. It is suggested that clinical work with children of transsexual parents needs to focus on the quality of family relationships.

Lesbians, gay men and family therapy: a contradiction in terms?

This paper seeks to review the history of discussions about lesbian and gay male sexuality in family therapy theory and practice. It examines whether homophobic and heterosexist attitudes are present in family therapy thinking. Possible connections are explored between attitudes towards lesbian and gay issues and the professional backgrounds of family therapists, wider debates on homosexuality within society, and conceptualizations of the family life cycle. The question of why relatively little has been written on the issues raised by lesbians, bisexuals and gay men in therapy is discussed. The implications of this oversight on practice are addressed and suggestions made for future work.