Department of Brain and Behavioral Sciences, Lab on Attachment and Parenting - LAG, University of Pavia.
Department of Dynamic and Clinical Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome.
Dev Psychol. 2021 Apr;57(4):535-547. doi: 10.1037/dev0001155. Epub 2021 Mar 4.
Thirty-one children of gay single fathers and 28 children of heterosexual single fathers, all born through surrogacy, were compared with 31 children of gay partnered fathers through surrogacy and 30 children of heterosexual partnered fathers through in-vitro fertilization on their perceptions of self-worth and their father- and caregiver-reported internalizing and externalizing behaviors. For children of single fathers, the study also examined associations between aspects related to their surrogacy conception, feelings about their family arrangement, and behavioral adjustment. All children (47.5% girls) were aged 6-12 years (Mmonths = 97.84, SD = 20.50) and living in Italy; all fathers (Myears = 43.79; SD = 6.42) identified as cisgender, reported a medium-to-high socioeconomic status, and were White (with the exception of one gay partnered father). No differences were found across the four family groups in any behavioral outcome, with children demonstrating, on average, high levels of self-worth and low levels of internalizing and externalizing problems. In single-father families, regardless of the father's sexual orientation, children with a weaker understanding of surrogacy, lower satisfaction with their contact with the gestational carrier, and lower comfort with their family arrangement were associated with more externalizing problems. Furthermore, children's female gender and lower satisfaction with their contact with the gestational carrier were associated with more internalizing problems, whereas children's male gender and greater understanding of surrogacy were associated with higher self-worth. Taken together, these findings do not support the commonly held assumption that the combination of surrogacy conception and single fatherhood is detrimental for children's behavioral adjustment. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).
31 名由同性恋单身父亲通过代孕生育的孩子和 28 名由异性恋单身父亲通过代孕生育的孩子，与 31 名由同性恋伴侣父亲通过代孕生育的孩子和 30 名由异性恋伴侣父亲通过体外受精生育的孩子进行了比较，评估他们的自我价值感以及他们的父亲和照顾者报告的内化和外化行为。对于单身父亲的孩子，该研究还检查了与代孕受孕相关的方面、对家庭安排的感受以及行为调整之间的关联。所有孩子（47.5%为女孩）年龄在 6-12 岁之间（M 月=97.84，SD=20.50），生活在意大利；所有父亲（M 岁=43.79；SD=6.42）均为顺性别，报告中高社会经济地位，且为白人（除了一名同性恋伴侣父亲）。在任何行为结果方面，四个家庭群体之间均无差异，儿童平均表现出较高的自我价值感和较低的内化和外化问题。在单身父亲家庭中，无论父亲的性取向如何，对代孕理解较弱、对与代孕母亲的接触满意度较低以及对家庭安排的舒适度较低的孩子，与更多的外化问题相关。此外，儿童的女性性别和对与代孕母亲接触的满意度较低与更多的内化问题相关，而儿童的男性性别和对代孕的更好理解与更高的自我价值感相关。总的来说，这些发现不支持普遍认为代孕受孕和单身父亲身份结合对儿童行为调整有害的假设。（PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).
