Motherhood Is Not a Given Thing: Experiences and Constructed Meanings of Biological and Nonbiological Lesbian Mothers

Abstract

This study was designed to examine the subjective experiences of Israeli lesbian mothers. We explored the constructed meanings that both biological and nonbiological mothers relate to their motherhood experience. Eight lesbian couples who were parenting together and who had 1, 2, or 3 children were interviewed. Our data suggest that the birth of the first child to lesbian couples marks a turning point in the lives of each partner, as well as in the lives of the couples, by creating for the first time a significant distinction between the partners. It was found that lesbian mothers tend to organize their experiences into 3 circles of "being": personal, couple, and communal (e.g., familial and social) aspects. Three themes contribute to the theoretical understanding of lesbian motherhood. First, although lesbian couples are known to value the sense of equality in their relationships, the birth of a child by one of the partners is an event that creates 2 different statuses of motherhood: a biological mother and a nonbiological mother. Second, the legal aspects of lesbian motherhood become a part of everyday life for the lesbian family and shape the partners' relationship. Third, being both a lesbian and a mother highlights the fundamental dialectic between marginality and mainstream conformity in the life experiences of lesbian mothers in Israeli society.

System Justification, Right-Wing Conservatism, and Internalized Homophobia: Gay and Lesbian Attitudes toward Same-Sex Parenting in Italy

“…The pervasive devaluation of gays and lesbians along with the assumption that heterosexual orientation is a "natural", biological inscription on the body, may in fact affect how gay men and lesbian women view their own bodies as well as their capabilities as parents. Westernized societies continue to assume a gender hierarchy which clearly defines parenting roles and subordinates (heterosexual) men to (heterosexual) women when it comes to parenting skills (for example, in Israel: Ben-Ari and Tali Livni 2006;in Italy: Mucchi-Faina et al 2010). Thus, far from being recognized as a multiply determined and dynamic process, parenting functions are assumed to follow from a predetermined status ordering that depends upon the nature of male and female bodies.…”

(In)Visibilidade da Vivência Homoparental Feminina: entre Preconceitos e Superações

“…A chegada da criança parece tornar invisível a orientação sexual das mulheres (Ben-Ari, & Livni, 2006;Corrêa, 2012) O apoio social -familiar, social e comunitário -tem sido apontado pela literatura como uma das principais formas de amortecer o impacto negativo da homofobia em suas vidas (Lomando et al, 2011), e está claramente relacionada a uma melhor saúde física e psicológica na população LGBT: menor depressão e ansiedade, maior satisfação com vida e maior autoestima (Beals, Peplau, & Gable, 2009;Lehavot, & Simoni, 2011). Entre as mães adotivas, por exemplo, o apoio social está associado com menos estresse parental e menos sintomas depressivos e de ansiedade (Goldberg, & Smith, 2011;Tornello, Farr, & Patterson, 2011).…”

Gleichgeschlechtliche Familiengründungen

“…Na und?" Diese Auffassung findet sich auch in den Ergebnissen der erwähnten Studie von Ben Ari und Livni (2006). Die große Mehrheit der interviewten lesbischen Paare hatte sich für anonyme Samenspender entschieden.…”