DONOR INSEMINATION - CHILD-DEVELOPMENT AND FAMILY FUNCTIONING IN LESBIAN MOTHER FAMILIES

Findings are presented of a comparative study investigating the family relationships and the emotional and gender development of children ra ised in lesbian mother families. A total of 30 lesbian mother families with 4-8 year old children created as a result of donor insemination (DI) were compared with 38 heterosexual families with a DI child and w ith 30 heterosexual families who had a naturally conceived child, a va riety of assessment measures, including a standardized interview and q uestionnaires from the parents and psychological testing of the child were used to collect the data. The quality of the couples' relationshi ps and the quality of the mother-child interaction did not differ betw een lesbian mother families and either of the heterosexual family grou ps. The quality of the interaction between the social mother and the c hild in lesbian families was superior to that between the father and t he child in both groups of heterosexual families. Childrens' own perce ption of their parents was similar in all family types; the social mot her in lesbian families was regarded by the child to be as much a 'par ent' as the father in both types of heterosexual families. With regard to their emotional/behavioural development, boys and girls raised in lesbian mother families were well adjusted and their gender role devel opment did not differ from that of children raised in heterosexual fam ilies. These results indicate that child and family development in les bian mother families is similar to that of heterosexual families.