Relationships between mothers and children in families formed by shared biological motherhood

Abstract

STUDY QUESTION Does shared biological motherhood, in which a woman gives birth to the genetic child of her female partner, result in more positive mother–child relationships than donor insemination, in which only one mother is biologically related to the child? SUMMARY ANSWER Mothers in both family types showed high levels of bonding with their children and viewed their relationship with their child positively. WHAT IS KNOWN ALREADY There is some evidence of feelings of inequality regarding their relationship with their child between biological and non-biological mothers in lesbian mother families formed by donor insemination, with a qualitative longitudinal study showing a tendency for children to form stronger bonds with their biological than their non-biological mother. STUDY DESIGN, SIZE, DURATION Thirty lesbian mother families created through shared biological motherhood were compared with 30 lesbian mother families formed by donor-IVF. All families had two mothers who both participated in the study, and the children were aged from infancy up to 8 years old. Data collection took place over 20 months beginning in December 2019. PARTICIPANTS/MATERIALS, SETTING, METHODS Each mother in the family was interviewed separately using the Parent Development Interview (PDI), a reliable and valid measure of the nature of the parent’s emotional bond with their child. The interviews were transcribed verbatim and coded separately by one of two trained researchers who were unaware of the child’s family type. The interview produces 13 variables that relate to the parent’s representations of themselves as a parent, 5 variables that relate to the parent’s representations of the child, and a global variable that assesses the extent to which the parent can reflect on the child and their relationship. MAIN RESULTS AND THE ROLE OF CHANCE Families formed through shared biological parenthood did not differ from families created by donor-IVF in terms of the quality of mothers’ relationships with their children as assessed by the PDI. Neither were differences identified between birth mothers and non-birth mothers across the entire sample, or between gestational and genetic mothers within the families formed by shared biological parenthood. Multivariate analyses were conducted to minimize the role of chance. LIMITATIONS, REASONS FOR CAUTION Ideally, larger samples of families and a narrower age range of children would have been studied, but this was not possible as we were reliant on the small number of families formed through shared biological motherhood in the UK when the study began. To maintain the anonymity of the families, it was not possible to request information from the clinic that may have shed light on differences between those who responded to the request to participate and those who did not. WIDER IMPLICATIONS OF THE FINDINGS The findings show that shared biological motherhood is a positive option for lesbian couples who wish to have a more equal biological relationship to their children. One type of biological connection does not appear to have a greater influence on the quality of parent–child relationships than the other. STUDY FUNDING/COMPETING INTEREST(S) This study was funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) grant ES/S001611/1. KA is Director, and NM is Medical Director, of the London Women’s Clinic. The remaining authors have no conflicts of interest to declare. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER N/A.

Attentional bias to infant faces might be associated with previous care experiences and involvement in childcare in same-sex mothers

“…Although research on parity has demonstrated that nurturing experiences might be linked to maternal responses also to unfamiliar infant cues ( Maupin et al., 2019 ; Rutherford et al., 2019 ), it might be that, whilst unfamiliar infant faces engage the attention of mothers no matter their level of involvement, a higher level of commitment in childcare would be related to an increase of maternal RTs to own infant faces. Overall, our results empathize the importance of same-sex mother's involvement in childcare, which might be related to cognitive mechanisms underlying human caregiving (i.e., attentional bias to infant faces) and ultimately linked to a positive mother–child relationship ( Golombok et al., 2023 ).…”

“…However, future research could focus on this topic embracing the complexity of different types of mother–child relationships, paying much attention to the new reproductive options (i.e., ROPA, Reception of Oocytes from the Partner), to take those factors into account also in the statistical models. Importantly, investigating the role of biological relatedness with the child might strengthen the idea that biological processes might explain only partially maternal responsiveness to infant cues, and that maternal involvement is important for mother–infant bondings besides the experience of pregnancy and birth ( Golombok et al., 2023 ). Moreover, since infants’ facial expressions might convey important information for understanding infants’ physical and mental needs, further research should explore more in depth the role of the emotional valence of facial expressions in maternal responses to infant faces.…”

Biogenetic Kinship in Families Formed via Reciprocal IVF: ‘It Was [My Partner]’s Egg . . . But My Blood Flowed through Her’

“…As reciprocal IVF offers mothers the chance to 'share' biological motherhood, this biological inequality is reduced, and so questions of 'mine more than yours' may become obsolete. Indeed, quantitative research suggests that there are no differences in parent-child relationship quality between gestational and genetic mothers in reciprocal IVF families (Golombok et al, 2023). However, understandings of kinship are complex: societal discourse valorises genetic relationships, legal definitions of motherhood are centred on pregnancy and everyday understandings of kinship may encompass both.…”

Child-related factors associated with depressive symptoms among mothers of school-going children in urban Bangladesh: A cross-sectional study

“…A positive and secure attachment fosters healthy connections and interactions for the child, potentially impacting their future parenting experiences [ 14 ]. Researchers pointed out that the mother-children relationship begins during pregnancy and continues throughout the child’s life [ 15 ]. For instance, it is evident that a better mother-children relationship during pregnancy is associated with a better maternal-infant relationship after birth [ 16 ].…”