Lesbian couples requesting donor insemination: an update of the knowledge with regard to lesbian mother families

Although a variety of ways exist of becoming a lesbian mother, an increasin g number of lesbian couples have began to visit-fertility centres requestin g donor insemination (DI). The practice of inseminating lesbian couples rem ains a controversial issue within the reproductive medicine world. Lesbian mothers offer their children a familial context, which differs, on a number of important characteristics from the traditional heterosexual family. In lesbian families, a father has been absent right from the start, and the ch ild is raised by two mothers. The present article reviews whether there is any theoretical and/or empirical evidence for the most common assumptions w ith regard to lesbian motherhood. It also reports on a number of studies in which the practice of counselling lesbian couples is discussed. Although m any important research questions have yet to be addressed, none of the inve stigations carried out so far could identify an adverse effect of lesbian m otherhood on child development. Counselling lesbian couples for DI should m aim to provide information about the practical aspects of the treatment. Th e requests of lesbian couples, however, differ substantially from those of single mothers and heterosexual couples. Counsellors should respect these d ifferences and focus upon the specific living conditions of lesbian familie s.