Primary Submission Category: LGBTQ+
Family Planning and Concerns of Unfair Treatment of (Potential) Children Among Partnered Sexual and Gender Minority Individuals
Authors: Kristen Gustafson Wendy Manning Claire Kamp Dush
Presenting Author: Kristen Gustafson*
People with sexual minority (SM) identities are less likely to aspire to be parents than their heterosexual counterparts (Riskind and Patterson 2010). This differential may be due to concerns by sexual and gender minority people about their child(ren)’s encountering prejudice or discrimination. The objective of this study is to assess respondents’ rationales for not having children with a focus on concerns that their child(ren) will be treated unfairly. We draw on the nationally representative National Couples’ Health and Time Study (NCHAT) conducted between Sept 2020 and April 2021 and either cohabiting or married. The NCHAT is especially suited for analyses due to its oversamples of sexual, gender, and racial minority people. We select SM respondents that are under 50 and are not currently intending to have a child (n=1,079). We find that half (53%) endorsed the belief that the reason for avoiding having a child was concerns about their child being treated unfairly and most said it was due to their own sexual or gender identity. Cisgender sexual minority women have significantly lower odds of being concerned about their child(ren) being treated unfairly than non-cisgender individuals. Gay and lesbian individuals had significantly higher odds of being concerned about unfairness when compared to individuals with bisexual or other sexual identities. Further, those living in LGBT-friendly neighborhoods less often reported unfairness as a rationale for not having children. These results persist with the inclusion of sociodemographic indicators, COVID stress, and aggressions. This study is one of the first to examine unfairness as a potential barrier to family building among sexual and gender diverse individuals.