Male-partnered sexual minority women: Sexual identity disclosure to health care providers during the perinatal period.

Abstract

Male-partnered sexual minority women (SMW) have received little research attention, despite the fact that they represent a large proportion of SMW – particularly child-bearing SMW. Male-partnered SMW are less “out” than female-partnered SMW and will likely be “read” as heterosexual by perinatal providers. Given this, and evidence that pregnant women have unique mental health care needs, the current study focuses on male-partnered SMW (n = 28) during the perinatal period, recruited from Toronto, Canada and Massachusetts, USA, in an effort to understand disclosure and concealment processes in general and to perinatal heath care providers specifically. Women generally reported that they did not disclose (but made no effort to conceal) their sexual identities and histories in new or unfamiliar relationships, largely because the topic rarely came up, although some women highlighted bisexual invisibility and fear of biphobia as reasons for non-disclosure. Despite overall positive experiences with perinatal providers, less than one-quarter of the sample (n = 6) had disclosed their sexual identities and histories to them. Most women felt that this information was generally not relevant to their health care, and particularly their reproductive/obstetric care, although some believed that disclosure would be appropriate under conditions of sexual health risk (n = 8). Others noted that although they did not feel the need to disclose, they did prefer an LGBQ-affirming provider (n = 7). Findings provide insight into male-partnered SMW’s views and patterns of disclosure during the perinatal period, and have implications for providers, organizations, and scholars who interface with SMW. Pregnant sexual minority women with male partners are often assumed to be heterosexual, raising questions about whether and when these women disclose their sexual minority status in the perinatal context. This qualitative study of 28 women found that most participants did not share their sexual identity or sexual histories with their perinatal health care providers because this information was perceived as not relevant to their care, although some women nevertheless valued having LGBTQ friendly providers.

Invisibility and involvement: LGBTQ community connections among plurisexual women during pregnancy and postpartum.

“…We utilized these broad criteria inclusive of both same-sex behavior and sexual minority identity for feasibility reasons (due to low numbers of LGBQ-identified women presenting for prenatal care during the recruitment period), as well as to include women with same-sex attractions whose partner gender and parental status foreclosed sexual minority identification (as in Budnick, 2016). (See Goldberg, Ross, Manley, & Mohr, 2017, for a comprehensive description of recruitment procedures. )…”

Envisioning future parenthood among bisexual, lesbian, and heterosexual women.

“…Although previous work has shown that lesbian and gay individuals have lower desires to become parents as compared to their heterosexual counterparts (Riskind & Patterson, 2010), for bisexual women, research suggests context-dependent experiences such as partner sex (i.e., bisexual women who are partnered with women have similar desires and intentions as lesbian women; Riskind & Tornello, 2017; Ross, Siegel, Dobinson, Epstein, & Steele, 2012). In addition, research has extensively covered lesbian and gay parenting (Biblarz & Stacey, 2010; Patterson, 2017), but less research has included bisexual individuals (Goldberg, Ross, Manley, & Mohr, 2017; Power et al, 2012; Ross & Dobinson, 2013).…”

Mothers and others: The invisibility of LGBTQ people in reproductive and infant psychology

“…There is a growing body of evidence in relation to lesbian women's experiences of reproductive and maternity care, but research addressing the birth experiences and psychological health of lesbian mothers has been limited, and has focused on postnatal depression. Researched even less has been the experiences and psychological health of bisexual women who have male partners at the time of their pregnancy (Goldberg, Ross, Manley, & Mohr, 2017). In addition, research has not captured the complexity of family forms; for example, that with a lesbian couple, the children may be biologically connected to a non-birth parent, or that both partners may be (or may attempt to be) birth parents within that family.…”