Challenging Oedipus in changing families: Gender identifications and access to origins in same-sex parent families created through third-party reproduction

Redefining elective co-parenting as PACT: a systematic assessment of published concepts and definitions

BACKGROUND

There is an increase in the variation of family forms, types of parenthood roles and methods for family formation. One way of family building has most recently been referred to as 'elective co-parenting'. Yet, many other terms and somewhat diverging concept definitions have been put forward. This paper aims to establish a fundamental conceptual framework.

METHODS

We will adhere to a tailored set of guidelines for conceptual ethics organised in four stages: (i) Using a minimal scoping review of published definitions potential attributes are identified, (ii) The potential attributes are organised by theme in order to identify any necessary and sufficient or shared ones, (iii) A conceptual definition of the concept is developed, (iv) The most fitting concept label is determined.

RESULTS

Current terminology lacks comprehensiveness and often contains additional (hidden) meanings, thereby jeopardising its usability for research on contemporary family formation. We suggest a new nomenclature.

CONCLUSION

We suggest PACT (Pre-conception Agreement-based Co-parenting Together-apart) instead of 'elective co-parenting' (or equivalents) as a new concept label for this particular family type, whereby at least two parties of co-parents have agreed before the conception of a child to share parenting of this child. A party can refer either to an individual or a set of romantically involved individuals. Although there may be different types of loving relationships between some (or all) co-parents within this constellation, there is at least some 'detachment' that is recognised as being created and present by an absence of romantic love between those parties.

Disclosure and child exploration of surrogacy origins in gay father families: Fathers' Adult Attachment Interview coherence of mind matters

OBJECTIVE

The present study aimed at investigating whether gay fathers' coherence of mind within the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI) moderated the influence of parental disclosure on children's exploration of their surrogacy origins during middle childhood and early adolescence.

BACKGROUND

Once children of gay fathers are disclosed to about their surrogacy conception, they may start exploring the meanings and implications of their conception. Very little is known about the factors that may enhance such exploration in gay father families.

METHOD

A home-visit study was conducted with 60 White, cisgender, gay fathers and their 30 children born through gestational surrogacy, all residing in Italy and with medium to high socioeconomic status. At time 1, when children were aged 6-12 years (M = 8.31, SD = 1.68), fathers were rated for AAI coherence of mind and interviewed about their disclosure of the surrogacy origins to their child. At time 2, approximately 18 months later (M = 9.87, SD = 1.69), children were interviewed about their exploration of their surrogacy origins.

RESULTS

In the context of more information disclosed about the child conception, only children whose fathers showed greater AAI coherence of mind explored their surrogacy origins in more depth.

CONCLUSION

Gay fathers' ability to show an internally consistent, but not emotionally overwrought, state of mind regarding their own attachment experiences impacted the extent to which their children felt safe and legitimated in sharing their curiosity about their conception.

Adolescent Development and the Parent-Adolescent Relationship in Diverse Family Forms Created by Assisted Reproduction

Assisted reproduction techniques (ARTs) are employed by single individuals and couples who are not otherwise able to conceive spontaneously. While the use of ARTs is increasing, research is lacking on the attempts made by adolescent offspring conceived via ARTs to integrate their ART conception into their identity and negotiate a connection with, and autonomy from, their parents. The present article reviews studies investigating adolescent development and the parent-adolescent relationship in diverse family forms created by ARTs (mainly heterosexual and lesbian parent families), and discusses the results in light of attachment, identity development, and emotional distance regulation theories. Overall, the results indicate that the psychological adjustment of adolescents conceived via ARTs is not undermined by the manner of their conception, and that they enjoy positive relationships with their parents with no difference from those enjoyed by spontaneously conceived adolescents. However, it remains unknown whether the development of a reproductive identity in adolescence is likely to influence adolescents' interest in searching for or contacting their donors, surrogates, and/or donor siblings. The results suggest the relevance of considering the parent-adolescent relationship, disclosure, and identity formation issues when planning psychological counseling and support interventions with ART parents and their adolescent offspring, and emphasize the need to further investigate these aspects in diverse ART families, including single-, gay-, bisexual-, and trans*-parent families.

Il confine del transgender e nuovi significati per la psicoanalisi

L'articolo di Griffin Hansbury (2017a) "L'uomo vaginale: lavorare con la corporeità di uomini queer al confine del transgender" è un contributo originale, capace di stimolare la psicoanalisi a riflettere e a produrre linguaggio sui confini di genere delle identità maschili. Reinvenzione "incarnata" di concetti già noti all'elaborazione psicoanalitica (in autori come Judith Butler, Jessica Benjamin o Ken Corbett), la proposta di un "Vaginale maschile" può allargare il campo delle simbolizzazioni disponibili nel lavoro clinico con pazienti di genere maschile (cisgender e transgender, omosessuali ed eterosessuali). Tale ampliamento può essere uno strumento utile per lavorare, clinicamente e culturalmente, sia sul versante "fluido" e queer sia su quello "rigido" (di una mascolinità oggi da alcuni definita "tossica") delle identificazioni maschili.

Children's Exploration of Their Surrogacy Origins in Gay Two-Father Families: Longitudinal Associations With Child Attachment Security and Parental Scaffolding During Discussions About Conception

Evidence is lacking about the factors that are pivotal in enhancing the exploration of surrogacy origins in children of gay fathers during middle childhood. The present study examined the separate and combined influences of child attachment security and parental scaffolding (i.e., fathers' attempts to accept, encourage, and emotionally support their children's expression of thoughts and feelings) during discussions about conception on children's exploration of their surrogacy origins in 30 Italian children born to gay fathers through gestational surrogacy. Within each family, both father-child dyads (n = 60) participated in a 5-minute videotaped conversation regarding an aspect of the child's conception when children were mean aged 8.3 years (t1). At this time, children were also administered the Security Scale Questionnaire to evaluate their attachment security. Approximately 18 months later (t2; M age = 9.9 years), children were interviewed about their surrogacy origins. Linear mixed models (LMMs) for longitudinal data indicated that, with higher levels of parental scaffolding, only children who perceived greater attachment security reported greater exploration of their surrogacy origins. The findings are the first to underscore the importance of conversations about surrogacy within the context of parent-child attachment relationships, as well as the importance of fathers sensitively supporting their children as they explore their origins during middle childhood. In doing so, it is expected that fathers will likely facilitate their children's positive integration of their surrogacy conception into a coherent sense of identity during adolescence.