Lesbian motherhood: The impact on child development and family functioning

The wide variety of lesbian families who became visible during the past 20 years gave rise to important practical and theoretical questions. Up to now society has treated lesbian mothers differently with regard to a number of child-issues. In the past, divorcing lesbian mothers were often denied child custody because of their sexual orientation and the majority of fertility centers still refuse lesbian couples in their donor insemination programs. The present article reviews whether there is any theoretical and empirical evidence for the most widespread assumptions on which such decisions have been based. A number of psychological theories, such as psychoanalytic theory, social and cognitive learning theory and attachment theory are discussed with regard to the two most salient features of lesbian families; the absence of a father and the homosexual orientation of the mother. Meanwhile, there is a growing body of empirical research investigating a variety of aspects of child development, such as gender development, emotional/behavioral adjustment and social competence. Most of these studies involved children of divorced lesbian mothers who spent their early years in a heterosexual household. More recently, however, studies were sporadically carried out among children who were raised from birth in a lesbian relationship. As early childhood experiences are believed to have an important impact on future development, the study of these newly created families provides a challenge for existing psychological theories. Although many important research questions have yet to be addressed, the results of all reviewed studies were unanimous; none of the investigations could identify an adverse effect of lesbian motherhood on child development.

本研究探讨了近年来女同性恋家庭的出现所引发的理论和实践问题，特别是围绕女同性恋母亲及其子女抚养权、社会认同以及儿童心理发展等方面的挑战。社会和法律体系往往对女同性恋母亲存在歧视，尤其在子女抚养权和生育计划方面，很多女同性恋母亲由于性取向而面临不公平待遇。传统心理学理论，如精神分析理论、社会认知学习理论和依恋理论，认为父亲的缺席和母亲的同性恋倾向可能对儿童发展产生不利影响。然而，越来越多的实证研究表明，女同性恋家庭中的孩子在性别发展、情绪调节、行为调整和社会能力等方面与其他家庭背景下的孩子并无显著差异。因此，本研究旨在检验这些传统假设是否有充分的理论和经验证据支持，特别是通过分析女同性恋母亲对儿童发育的潜在影响，探讨如何在心理学理论中重新定位这些新兴家庭结构。

本研究通过回顾和分析相关的理论文献和实证研究，聚焦于心理学理论与实际调查之间的对比。研究包含对多个心理学学说的检验，特别是那些关于女同性恋家庭特点的假设（父亲缺席、母亲同性恋身份）的理论支持。研究还综合了大量关于儿童成长在女同性恋家庭中的实证数据，尤其是在性别发展、情绪和行为调整、社会交往能力等方面的调查结果。

研究结果一致表明，尽管传统的心理学理论强调父亲缺席和母亲同性恋倾向可能对儿童产生不利影响，但实际的实证研究并未发现女同性恋母亲家庭对儿童发展的任何负面影响。无论是性别发展、情绪行为调整还是社会能力，研究结果都表明，在女同性恋家庭中长大的孩子与其他家庭背景下的孩子相比并未出现显著的发育差异。换言之，女同性恋母亲的家庭环境对儿童的发育没有造成不利影响，这一结果挑战了传统的心理学假设。