Parents’ concerns over reproduction can affect their response to their children coming out
Concerns about whether their children will be able to have kids of their own someday appear to affect parents’ attitudes toward the possibility that their children may come out a lesbian, gay, or bisexual according to new research.
Researchers Danielle J. DelPriore, Olivia Ronan, and Pamela Lantz of Pennsylvania State University Altoona’s Division of Education, Human Development, and Social Sciences published findings from a trio of studies in Archives of Sexual Behavior back in July.
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“Parents often respond negatively when a child discloses their minoritized sexual orientation,” the team wrote. “We propose that parents’ negativity in this context may be shaped by evolutionary concerns regarding their children’s reproductive outcomes.”
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To test their hypothesis DelPriore and the other researchers conducted three studies. The researchers conducted three studies to test their hypothesis. In the first study, they surveyed 386 parents who were heterosexual and cisgender. This group included 192 mothers and 192 fathers. All of the participants had children younger than six years old. The surveys measured how worried parents were about the likelihood that their children would reproduce (i.e. The surveys measured parents’ attitudes towards the possibility of their children coming out as homosexual, lesbian or bisexual, and their concern about their child’s ability to reproduce (i.e. Researchers found that parents who were concerned about their child being able to reproduce had a negative attitude toward their hypothetical child coming out as a non-heterosexual. Parents who were concerned about their child’s ability to reproduce biologically and those who thought that non-heterosexuals faced significant challenges in reproducing themselves had a greater tendency to be negative about their child’s coming out. Two separate studies tested whether providing parents with information about LGB people’s reproductive options could impact their attitudes toward their children’s sexual orientation. The first study focused on 327 heterosexual cisgender mothers and young children below the age of six. The second study focused on 279 heterosexual cisgender fathers. Both studies divided parents into two groups. The same survey was then given to the parents as the group in the initial study. Parents were then given the same surveys as the group in the initial study.
Researchers found that both mothers and fathers with more information about the reproductive options available to lesbian, gay, and bisexual people were significantly less likely to express negativity about their child potentially coming out.
The studies suggest that for some parents, negative attitudes about their children coming out can be changed. When parents understand that LGB people can have biological children of their own, they seem to be less likely to react negatively to their children coming out.
Notably, the research comes at a time when IVF, the most common method of assisted reproduction, has gained national attention in the wake of the Alabama Supreme Court’s unprecedented February ruling that effectively outlawed the treatment in the state.
Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance was one of 47 Senate Republicans to vote against the “Right to IVF Act,” which would have ensured access to IVF and other forms of assisted fertility treatment nationwide.
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