Psychosocial Adjustment among Children Conceived via Donor Insemination by Lesbian and Heterosexual Mothers

• Published in: Child development Vol. 69; no. 2; pp. 443 - 457
• Main Authors: Chan, Raymond W., Raboy, Barbara, Patterson, Charlotte J.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford, UK Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.04.1998; University of Chicago Press; Blackwell; University of Chicago Press for the Society for Research in Child Development, etc
• Subjects: Adaptation, Psychological; Adjustment; Artificial Insemination; Artificial insemination by donor; Behavior problems; Biological and medical sciences; California; Child; Child Behavior Disorders - diagnosis; Child Behavior Disorders - psychology; Child Development; Child psychology; Children; Comparative Analysis; Conflict (Psychology); Developmental psychology; Elementary school students; Emotional Adjustment; Factors; Families & family life; Family Environment; Family Problems; Family Relations; Family Relationship; Family Structure; Family, School, and Community; Female; Female Headed Households; Female homosexuality; Follow-Up Studies; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Gays & lesbians; Gender Identity; Heterosexuality; Homosexual Parents; Homosexuality; Homosexuality, Female - psychology; Humans; Infant; Infant, Newborn; Insemination, Artificial, Heterologous - psychology; Lesbianism; Male; Marital Satisfaction; Mothers; Parent Child Relations; Parenting; Parenting - psychology; Parents; Personality Assessment; Personality Development; Pregnancy; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychophysiology; Risk Factors; Self esteem; Sex Role Orientations; Sexual orientation; Single Parent Family; Social Adjustment; Social Environment; Human; Semen donation; Homosexuality; Mother; Conflict; Heterosexuality; Artificial insemination; Social adjustment; Familial relation; Child; Comparative study; Parent child relation
• ISSN: 0009-3920; 1467-8624
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-8624.1998.tb06201.x

This study examined the relations among family structure (e. g., number of parents, parental sexual orientation), family process (e. g., parents' relationship satisfaction, interparental conflict), and the psychological adjustment of children who had been conceived via donor insemination. The 80 participating families, all of whom had conceived children using the resources of a single sperm bank, included 55 families headed by lesbian and 25 families headed by heterosexual parents. Fifty families were headed by couples and 30 by single parents. Participating children averaged 7 years of age. Results showed that children were developing in normal fashion, and that their adjustment was unrelated to structural variables such as parental sexual orientation or the number of parents in the household. These results held true for teacher reports as well as for parent reports. Variables associated with family interactions and processes were, however, significantly related to indices of children's adjustment. Parents who were experiencing higher levels of parenting stress, higher levels of interparental conflict, and lower levels of love for each other had children who exhibited more behavior problems.