Famiglie composte da genitori gay e lesbiche e famiglie composte da genitori eterosessuali: benessere dei bambini, impegno nella relazione e soddisfazione diadica

Lesbians and gay men become parents through various means including current or former relationships, co-parenting, adoption, donor insemination, and surrogacy. There is a consensus among scientific researchers which confirms the abilities of gay and lesbian persons as parents, and finds positive outcomes for their children. Literature underlines that lesbians and gay parents are similar with heterosexual ones and, behind some point of views, as the satisfaction about family management and dyadic commitment, they refer higher satisfaction than the heterosexual counterpart. Aims: This paper investigates the attitudes toward homosexual parenting in a sample of lesbians (N=16) and gay men (N=16) with children; besides this, the group of homosexual parents was compared with a similar group of heterosexual parents (mothers = 16; fathers = 16) regarding some couple’s and family’s variables. Method: Participants were administered a semistructured interview for evaluation of attitudes toward homosexual parenting and some self-reports with the aim to investigate parenting competences, couple satisfaction and commitment, relationship with the origin family, possible effects on child development. Results: Lesbians and Gay parents report a positive perception of their parenting skills. Participants, in particular lesbian mothers, reported higher level of couple satisfaction and a positive attitude toward gay and lesbian parenting. Lesbian mothers reported a more favorable evaluation of the possible effects on children raised in that specific type of families; specifically lesbians and gay parents think that their specific situation can be favorable for a higher tolerance towards diversity, openness and a less stringent view of sex roles. Comparisons with the heterosexual group of parents have shown a significant difference regarding dyadic commitment: homosexual parents report higher results than heteropianifisexual ones. Conclusions: According to international literature, data of the present study have found that the psychological and social aspects of committed relationships between same-sex partners largely resemble those of heterosexual partnerships. The study provides not only research data but we hope that this article can help the scientific community to promote studies supporting gay and lesbian families, especially in countries like Italy, which is characterized by high levels of social sexual stigma.

La letteratura sottolinea numerose somiglianze tra coppie composte da persone gay e lesbiche e coppie eterosessuali, rispetto al funzionamento familiare, le competenze genitoriali e un positivo adattamento psicologico dei bambini. Obiettivo: Il presente lavoro indaga l’atteggiamento nei confronti della genitorialità omosessuale in un gruppo di genitori gay (N=16) e lesbiche (N=16) confrontando tale gruppo con genitori eterosessuali (padri=16; madri=16) su variabili quali l’adattamento familiare, di coppia e le percezioni delle proprie competenze genitoriali. Metodo: Sono stati somministrati un’intervista semi-strutturata e questionari self-report per indagare le competenze genitoriali, la soddisfazione di coppia, la relazione con la famiglia d’origine e l’adattamento del bambino. Risultati: Le madri lesbiche riferiscono un’elevata soddisfazione di coppia ed una valutazione più favorevole degli esiti di sviluppo dei bambini. I genitori gay e lesbiche, infine, mostrano un impegno di coppia più elevato rispetto a quelli eterosessuali. Conclusioni: Complessivamente, a conferma di una vasta letteratura internazionale, maggiori sembrano essere le analogie rispetto alle differenze tra genitori omosessuali ed eterosessuali in relazione alla percezione del funzionamento diadico e familiare. Lo studio fornisce non solo dati di ricerca, ma anche spunti di riflessione per la promozione del benessere e per il sostegno alla genitorialità in persone gay e lesbiche.