Donor insemination: child development and family functioning in lesbian mother families

Findings are presented of a comparative study investigating the familyrelationships and the emotional and gender development of children raisedin lesbian mother families. A total of 30 lesbian mother families with 4-8year old children created as a result of donor insemination (DI) werecompared with 38 heterosexual families with a DI child and with 30heterosexual families who had a naturally conceived child. A variety ofassessment measures, including a standardized interview and questionnairesfrom the parents and psychological testing of the child were used tocollect the data. The quality of the couples' relationships and the qualityof the mother-child interaction did not differ between lesbian motherfamilies and either of the heterosexual family groups. The quality of theinteraction between the social mother and the child in lesbian families wassuperior to that between the father and the child in both groups ofheterosexual families. Childrens' own perception of their parents wassimilar in all family types; the social mother in lesbian families wasregarded by the child to be as much a 'parent' as the father in both typesof heterosexual families. With regard to their emotional/behaviouraldevelopment, boys and girls raised in lesbian mother families were welladjusted and their gender role development did not differ from that ofchildren raised in heterosexual families. These results indicate that childand family development in lesbian mother families is similar to that ofheterosexual families.