Why Donor Insemination and Not Adoption? Narratives of Female-Partnered and Single Mothers

Both female couples and single women who seek to become parents theoretically have several family-building options available, including, most prominently, donor insemination or adoption. In the current study the authors explored how 50 women (36 female partnered, 14 single) explained their decision to use donor insemination and not adoption. The findings revealed that although 60% of women had considered adoption, only 12% took steps toward adopting. Reasons for not considering or pursuing adoption centered on attractive features of biological parenthood (the desire to be pregnant, desire for a genetic link to the child) as well as perceived problems with adoption (cost, the unpredictable nature of the adoption process, and the perceived likelihood of problems in adopted children). Structural barriers to adoption (legal barriers, agency stigma) were also noted. These findings have implications for professionals who work with diverse families during the family-building stage and for policy makers seeking to reduce the number of children in child welfare.

[1]  ชวิตรา ตันติมาลา.  Constructing Grounded Theory: A Practical Guide through Qualitative Analysis , 2017 .

[2]  Kate Jackson-Meyer.  The New Kinship: Constructing Donor-Conceived Families , 2016 .

[3]  Michele M. Mckelvey.  The Other Mother: A Narrative Analysis of the Postpartum Experiences of Nonbirth Lesbian Mothers , 2014, ANS. Advances in nursing science.

[4]  M. Lamb,et al.  Why Adoption? Gay, Lesbian, and Heterosexual Adoptive Parents’ Reproductive Experiences and Reasons for Adoption , 2014 .

[5]  A. Goldberg,et al.  Seeking to Adopt in Florida: Lesbian and Gay Parents Navigate the Legal Process , 2014 .

[6]  A. Goldberg,et al.  Predictors of psychological adjustment in early placed adopted children with lesbian, gay, and heterosexual parents. , 2013, Journal of family psychology : JFP : journal of the Division of Family Psychology of the American Psychological Association.

[7]  A. Goldberg,et al.  “When You’re Sitting on the Fence, Hope's the Hardest Part”: Challenges and Experiences of Heterosexual and Same-Sex Couples Adopting Through the Child Welfare System , 2012, Adoption quarterly.

[8]  A. Goldberg.  Gay Dads: Transitions to Adoptive Fatherhood , 2012 .

[9]  A. Goldberg,et al.  Why Parenthood, and Why Now?: Gay Men's Motivations for Pursuing Parenthood. , 2012, Family relations.

[10]  K. Malm,et al.  Exploring Motivations to Adopt , 2010 .

[11]  B. McCann.  Lesbian and Gay Parents and Their Children: Research on the Family Life Cycle , 2010 .

[12]  D. Brodzinsky,et al.  Review: Adoption research: Trends, topics, outcomes , 2010 .

[13]  S. Golombok,et al.  ‘Mom by choice, single by life's circumstance…’ Findings from a large scale survey of the experiences of single mothers by choice , 2009, Human fertility.

[14]  A. Goldberg,et al.  Making the Decision: Factors Influencing Gay Men's Choice of an Adoption Path , 2009 .

[15]  D. Berkowitz.  Theorizing Lesbian and Gay Parenting: Past, Present, and Future Scholarship , 2009 .

[16]  A. Goldberg,et al.  The transition from infertility to adoption: Perceptions of lesbian and heterosexual couples , 2009 .

[17]  S. Pelka.  Sharing Motherhood: Maternal Jealousy Among Lesbian Co-Mothers , 2009, Journal of homosexuality.

[18]  A. Goldberg,et al.  Social Support and Psychological Well-Being in Lesbian and Heterosexual Preadoptive Couples , 2008 .

[19]  J. Hare,et al.  “Whose Child Is This?”: Determining Legal Status for Lesbian Parents Who Used Assisted Reproductive Technologies* , 2008 .

[20]  A. Goldberg,et al.  Perceptions of Children’s Parental Preferences in Lesbian Two‐Mother Households , 2008 .

[21]  D. Caulley.  Qualitative research for education: An introduction to theories and methods , 2007 .

[22]  H. Grotevant,et al.  Many Faces of Openness in Adoption: Perspectives of Adopted Adolescents and Their Parents , 2007, Adoption quarterly.

[23]  A. Goldberg.  (How) does it make a difference? Perspectives of adults with lesbian, gay, and bisexual parents. , 2007, The American journal of orthopsychiatry.

[24]  A. Ben–Ari,et al.  The Dialectics Between the Personal and the Interpersonal in the Experiences of Adoptive Single Mothers by Choice , 2007 .

[25]  G. Gates.  Adoption and Foster Care by Lesbian and Gay Parents in the United States , 2007 .

[26]  G. Gates,et al.  Adoption and Foster Care by Gay and Lesbian Parents in the United States , 2007 .

[27]  Katrina Hargreaves.  Constructing families and kinship through donor insemination. , 2006, Sociology of health & illness.

[28]  M. Morrissette.  Choosing Single Motherhood , 2006 .

[29]  R. Bausch,et al.  Predicting Willingness to Adopt a Child: A Consideration of Demographic and Attitudinal Factors , 2006 .

[30]  B. Ames,et al.  "It wasn't 'let's get pregnant and go do it': " Decision making in lesbian couples planning motherhood via donor insemination , 2004 .

[31]  Allen P. Fisher.  Still “Not Quite As Good As Having Your Own”? Toward a Sociology of Adoption , 2003 .

[32]  S. Goldberg,et al.  Gay and lesbian adoptive and foster care placements: can they meet the needs of waiting children? , 2001, Social work.

[33]  J. Prescott,et al.  Mother Nature: A History of Mothers, Infants, and Natural Selection , 2001 .

[34]  H. Grotevant,et al.  Adoptive Identity: How Contexts Within and Beyond the Family Shape Developmental Pathways* , 2000 .

[35]  K. Wegar.  Adoption, Family Ideology, and Social Stigma: Bias in Community Attitudes, Adoption Research, and Practice , 2000 .

[36]  B. Miller,et al.  Comparisons of adopted and nonadopted adolescents in a large, nationally representative sample. , 2000, Child development.

[37]  Jane D. Bock.  DOING THE RIGHT THING? , 2000 .

[38]  Jenny Harding,et al.  Sex Acts: Practices of Femininity and Masculinity , 1998 .

[39]  J. Modell,et al.  Making a “Real” Family , 1997 .

[40]  R. Bogdan.  Qualitative research for education : an introduction to theory and methods / by Robert C. Bogdan and Sari Knopp Biklen , 1997 .

[41]  F. Byrn,et al.  Donor insemination: a comparison of lesbian couples, heterosexual couples and single women , 1996, Fertility and sterility.

[42]  Cori Hayden.  Gender, Genetics, and Generation: Reformulating Biology in Lesbian Kinship , 1995 .

[43]  Gale,et al.  Qualitative Data Analysis: An Expanded Sourcebook , 1994 .

[44]  K. Weston,et al.  Families We Choose: Lesbians, Gays, Kinship , 1991 .

[45]  J. Bowlby.  Attachment and loss: retrospect and prospect. , 1969, The American journal of orthopsychiatry.

[46]  S. Golombok,et al.  Socio-emotional development in changing family contexts , 2015 .

[47]  J. Vespa,et al.  America ’ s Families and Living Arrangements : 2007 , 2013 .

[48]  W. Gillett,et al.  The donor, the father, and the imaginary constitution of the family: parents' constructions in the case of donor insemination. , 2008, Social science & medicine.

[49]  Ramona F. Oswald,et al.  Decentering Heteronormativity: A Model for Family Studies. , 2005 .

[50]  Naomi Dambacher,et al.  Making a "Real" Family: Matching and Cultural Biologism in American Adoption. , 1997 .

[51]  K. Daniels.  Adoption and donor insemination: factors influencing couples' choices. , 1994, Child welfare.