ABOVE: Watermark file photo by Dylan Todd.
New research released Monday from the Williams Institute at University of California Los Angeles School of Law examines the demographic and mental health differences among cisgender lesbian, bisexual, and queer (LBQ) women with and without children.
Findings show that nearly one-quarter of LBQ women ages 18 to 59 and an estimated 24% of female same-sex couples have had children. Parents were more likely to be bisexual, in a relationship with a man, and non-urban. In addition, bisexual parents reported greater psychological distress, less life satisfaction and happiness, and less connection to the LGBT community than lesbian parents. Parents with other identities perceived more social support from friends and reported lower levels of internalized homophobia than bisexual parents.
“There is a unique form of bias against people who have both same-sex and different-sex attractions and sexual relationships, and this may be why we see poorer mental health outcomes for bisexual parents,” said co-author Esther D. Rothblum, Visiting Distinguished Scholar at the Williams Institute.
This is the first study to use a U.S. population-based sample to compare the mental health of sexual minority women with children to those without children. In the study, researchers also examined LBQ women in three age groups: young (18-25), middle (34-41), and older (52-59).
Researchers found that among lesbian women, the oldest non-parents reported more happiness and less psychological distress than the youngest non-parents. The youngest group of bisexual women reported more community connectedness than bisexual women of other age groups. There was no difference in happiness and psychological distress among parents of different age groups.
“It was important to take different age cohorts into account, because attitudes, policies, and laws concerning sexual minority people and parenting have evolved over time,” said lead author Mark Assink, Ph.D., Researcher at the Research Institute of Child Development and Education at the University of Amsterdam. “More research that examines the impact of parenting on emerging identities is needed, as more LBQ women opt for parenthood.”
Note: This was a companion study to two previous studies released by the Williams Instate last Fall, the Generations and TransPop studies.
