Who carries the baby? How lesbian couples in the Netherlands choose birth motherhood.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

The purpose of the study is to contribute to an understanding of the cultural and normative meaning of birth motherhood and how lesbian couples decide who carries the child.

Background

The decision of who carries the child is central in lesbian family-making, carrying consequences for life after birth. Even so, it has been relatively overlooked in research. Drawing from the sociology of personal life and Park's (2013) conceptualization of monomaternalism, we study how informants consider and decide birth motherhood.

Method

Semistructured interviews with both partners in 21 pregnant lesbian couples in the Netherlands were thematically analyzed.

Results

The meaning of birth motherhood was ambivalent, linked to femininity, socially recognized motherhood,

SUBMITTER: Geerts A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10084432 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature