How do lesbian couples compare with heterosexual in vitro fertilization and spontaneously pregnant couples when it comes to parenting stress?

• Published in: Acta Paediatrica 2014-05, Vol.103 (5), p.537-545
• Main Authors: Borneskog, C, Lampic, C, Sydsjö, G, Bladh, M, Skoog Svanberg, A
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; Child, Preschool; Fathers - psychology; Female; Fertilization in Vitro - psychology; Health Surveys; Heterosexuality - psychology; Homosexuality, Female - psychology; Humans; Infant; Lesbian; Longitudinal Studies; Male; MEDICIN; Medicin och hälsovetenskap; MEDICINE; Mothers - psychology; Parenting - psychology; Parenting stress; Pregnancy; Prospective Studies; Psychological Tests; Sperm donation; Stress, Psychological - etiology; Surveys and Questionnaires; Sweden; Toddler
• ISSN: 0803-5253; 1651-2227; 1651-2227
• DOI: 10.1111/apa.12568

Aim To study parenting stress in lesbian parents and to compare that stress with heterosexual parents following in vitro fertilisation (IVF) or spontaneous pregnancies. Methods This survey took place during 2005–2008 and was part of the Swedish multicentre study on gamete donation. It comprised 131 lesbian parents, 83 heterosexual IVF parents, who used their own gametes, and 118 spontaneous pregnancy parents. The participants responded to the questionnaire when the child was between 12 and 36‐months‐old and parenting stress was measured by the Swedish Parenting Stress Questionnaire (SPSQ). Results Lesbian parents experienced less parenting stress than heterosexual IVF parents when it came to the General Parenting Stress measure (p = 0.001) and the subareas of Incompetence (p