TITLE:

Psychosocial adjustment among children conceived via donor insemination by lesbian and heterosexual mothers.

AUTHORS:

Chan RW; Raboy B; Patterson CJ

AUTHOR AFFILIATION:

Department of Psychology, University of Virginia, Charlottesville 22903-2477, USA. rwc8d@virginia.edu

SOURCE:

Child Dev 1998 Apr;69(2):443-57

CITATION IDS:

PMID: 9586218 UI: 98247365

ABSTRACT:

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.

MAIN MESH HEADINGS:

Homosexuality, Female/*psychology Insemination, Artificial, Heterologous/*psychology *Personality Development *Social Adjustment

ADDITIONAL MESH HEADINGS:

Adaptation, Psychological Child Child Behavior Disorders/diagnosis Child Behavior Disorders/psychology Conflict (Psychology) Female Follow-Up Studies Gender Identity Human Infant Infant, Newborn Male Parenting/psychology Personality Assessment Pregnancy Risk Factors Social Environment Support, Non-U.S. Gov't 1998/05 1998/20 02:04

PUBLICATION TYPES:

JOURNAL ARTICLE

LANGUAGES:

Eng