Family Characteristics, Custody Arrangements, and Adolescent Psychological Well-being After Lesbian Mothers Break Up

Based on the first longitudinal study on dissolutions among lesbian couples, this article suggests the importance of co-parent adoption for same-sex couples with children.  The study finds that the former couples were more likely to be sharing custody if there had been a co-parent adoption and that they had remained in their relationships longer — on average four years longer — than those without co-parent adoptions. In addition, their 17-year-old children were significantly more likely to report closeness to both parents and that they spent significantly more time with both parents after the dissolution, as compared to families without co-parent adoptions. Only 19 states and Washington D.C. currently have laws or court decisions clearly permitting co-parent adoptions by same-sex couples

Family Characteristics, Custody Arrangements, and Adolescent Psychological Well-being After Lesbian Mothers Break Up

Based on the first longitudinal study on dissolutions among lesbian couples, this article suggests the importance of co-parent adoption for same-sex couples with children.  The study finds that the former couples were more likely to be sharing custody if there had been a co-parent adoption and that they had remained in their relationships longer — on average four years longer — than those without co-parent adoptions. In addition, their 17-year-old children were significantly more likely to report closeness to both parents and that they spent significantly more time with both parents after the dissolution, as compared to families without co-parent adoptions. Only 19 states and Washington D.C. currently have laws or court decisions clearly permitting co-parent adoptions by same-sex couples

Satisfaction with known, open-identity, or unknown sperm donors: reports from lesbian mothers of 17-year-old adolescents

Objective: To assess whether lesbian mothers of 17-year-old adolescents conceived through donor insemination are satisfied with their choice of a known, open-identity, or unknown sperm donor and whether the mothers' satisfaction is associated with psychological health problems in the index adolescent offspring. Design: Mixed-method study. Setting: Not applicable. Patient(s): One hundred twenty-nine lesbian mothers and 77 index offspring. Intervention(s): Semistructured interviews with the mothers conducted by telephone and the State-Trait Personality Inventory (STPI) completed online by the adolescent offspring. Main Outcome Measure(s): Satisfaction with the type of sperm donor selected was assessed through multiple choice questions, and adolescent psychological health problems by the STPI. The reasons for the mothers' (dis)satisfaction were evaluated through a thematic analysis of transcribed interviews. Result(s): Overall, 77.5% of mothers were satisfied with the type of donor chosen. There were no significant differences between birth mothers and comothers on (dis)satisfaction. In comparing satisfied with dissatisfied birth mothers by donor type, the only significant differences were that those selecting open-identity donors were more satisfied than dissatisfied and that those using unknown donors were more dissatisfied than satisfied; (dis)satisfaction with donor type was unrelated to offspring psychological health problems. Qualitative analyses revealed six themes concerning all mothers' reasons for (dis)satisfaction. Conclusion(s): Donor access and custody concerns were the primary themes mentioned by lesbian mothers regarding their (dis)satisfaction with the type of sperm donor they had selected