Parenting

Chan, R. W., Brooks, R. C., Raboy, B., & Patterson,
C. J. (1998). Division of labor among lesbian and
heterosexual parents: Associations with children's
adjustment. Journal of Family Psychology, 12,
402-419.
This study compared lesbian and heterosexual parents'
division of household labor, satisfaction with
division of labor, satisfaction with couple relationships,
and associations of these variables with psychological
adjustment of children. Participating lesbian
(n = 30) and heterosexual (n = 16) couples all
became parents by using anonymous donor insemination
and had at least one child of elementaryschool
age. Although both lesbian and heterosexual
couples reported relatively equal divisions of paid
employment and of household and decision-making
tasks, lesbian biological and nonbiological mothers
shared child-care tasks more equally than did heterosexual
parents. Among lesbian nonbiological mothers,
those more satisfied with the division of family
decisions in the home were also more satisfied with
their relationships and had children who exhibited
fewer externalizing behavior problems. The effect of
division of labor on children's adjustment was mediated
by parents' relationship satisfaction. (PsycINFO
Database Record. Copyright © 2002 by the American
Psychological Association. All rights reserved.)
Chan, R. W., Raboy, B., & Patterson, C. J.
(1998b). Psychosocial adjustment among children
conceived via donor insemination by lesbian
and heterosexual mothers. Child
Development, 69, 443-457.
Examined the relationships 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 het-
erosexual parents. Fifty families were headed by couples
and 30 by single parents. Participating children
averaged 7 years of age. Results show that children
were developing in a 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. (PsycINFO Database Record.
Copyright © 2002 by the American Psychological
Association. All rights reserved.)
Ciano-Boyce, C., & Shelley-Sireci, L. (2002). Who
is Mommy tonight? Lesbian parenting issues.
Journal of Homosexuality, 43, 1-13.
Explored how 18 lesbian adoptive parents, 49 lesbian
parents who formed their families biologically, and
44 heterosexual adoptive parents experience and
perceive their parenting role, how they respond
when their children seek them or their partner for
particular nurturing, and how the parents negotiate
the cultural expectation of a primary caregiver.
Lesbian couples were more equal in their division of
child care than heterosexual parents, and lesbian
adoptive parents were the most egalitarian. In all
types of dual-parent families, parents were sought
by their child for different activities. In heterosexual
adoptive and lesbian biological families, the child's
parental preference was rarely a source of conflict
between partners. Lesbian adoptive parents were
more likely to report that this preference caused
occasional conflict. Reasons for this conflict are discussed
in light of societal expectations of women
and the role of mother. (PsycINFO Database
Record. Copyright © 2003 by the American
Psychological Association. All rights reserved.)
2 6 L E S B I A N & G A Y P A R E N T I N G