Donor sibling relations among adult offspring conceived via insemination by lesbian parents.

STUDY QUESTION: How do adult offspring in planned lesbian-parent families feel about and relate to their donor (half) sibling(s) (DS)? SUMMARY ANSWER: A majority of offspring had found DS and maintained good ongoing relationships, and all offspring (regardless of whether a DS had been identified) were satisfied with their knowledge of and contact level with the DS. WHAT IS KNOWN ALREADY: The first generation of donor insemination offspring of intended lesbian-parent families is now in their 30s. Coincident with this is an increased use of DNA testing and genetic ancestry websites, facilitating the discovery of donor siblings from a common sperm donor. Few studies of offspring and their DS include sexual minority parent (SMP) families, and only sparse data separately analyze the offspring of SMP families or extend the analyses to established adult offspring. STUDY DESIGN, SIZE, DURATION: This cohort study included 75 adult offspring, longitudinally followed since conception in lesbian-parent families. Quantitative analyses were performed from online surveys of the offspring in the seventh wave of the 36-year study, with a 90% family retention rate. The data were collected from March 2021 to November 2022. PARTICIPANTS/MATERIALS, SETTING, METHODS: Participants were 30- to 33-year-old donor insemination offspring whose lesbian parents enrolled in a US prospective longitudinal study when these offspring were conceived. Offspring who knew of a DS were asked about their numbers found, characteristics or motivations for meeting, DS terminology, relationship quality and maintenance, and impact of the DS contact on others. All offspring (with or without known DS) were asked about the importance of knowing if they have DS and their terminology, satisfaction with information about DS, and feelings about future contact. MAIN RESULTS AND THE ROLE OF CHANCE: Of offspring, 53% (n = 40) had found DS in modest numbers, via a DS or sperm bank registry in 45% of cases, and most of these offspring had made contact. The offspring had their meeting motivations fulfilled, viewed the DS as acquaintances more often than siblings or friends, and maintained good relationships via meetings, social media, and cell phone communication. They disclosed their DS meetings to most relatives with neutral impact. The offspring, whether with known or unknown DS, felt neutral about the importance of knowing if they had DS, were satisfied with what they knew (or did not know) of the DS, and were satisfied with their current level of DS contact. This study is the largest, longest-running longitudinal study of intended lesbian-parent families and their offspring, and due to its prospective nature, is not biased by over-sampling offspring who were already satisfied with their DS. LIMITATIONS, REASONS FOR CAUTION: The sample was from the USA, and mostly White, highly educated individuals, not representative of the diversity of donor insemination offspring of lesbian-parent families. WIDER IMPLICATIONS OF THE FINDINGS: While about half of the offspring found out about DS, the other half did not. Regardless of knowing of a DS, these adult offspring of lesbian parents were satisfied with their level of DS contact. Early disclosure and identity formation about being donor-conceived in a lesbian-parent family may distinguish these study participants from donor insemination offspring and adoptees in the general population, who may be more compelled to seek genetic relatives. The study participants who sought DS mostly found a modest number of them, in contrast to reports in studies that have found large numbers of DS. This may be because one-third of study offspring had donors known to the families since conception, who may have been less likely to participate in commercial sperm banking or internet donation sites, where quotas are difficult to enforce or nonexistent. The study results have implications for anyone considering gamete donation, gamete donors, donor-conceived offspring, and/or gamete banks, as well as the medical and public policy professionals who advise them. STUDY FUNDING/COMPETING INTEREST(S): No funding was provided for this project. The authors have no competing interests. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: N/A.

Sperm donor relations among adult offspring conceived via insemination by lesbian parents.

AIM: The present study examined how adult offspring of lesbian parents relate to their anonymous, open-identity, or known donors. DESIGN: An online survey of 75 donor-conceived offspring of lesbian parents, aged 30-33 years, participating in Wave 7 of a U.S. 36-year longitudinal study of planned lesbian-parent families was conducted. Offspring were asked about donor type, motivations for contacting the donor, terminology for the donor, relationship quality, means of relationship maintenance, impact of donor contact on offspring's other family members, and their feelings about the donor. RESULTS: Twenty offspring with anonymous donors and 15 with open-identity donors whom they had not contacted felt comfortable not knowing their donors. Forty offspring knew their donors - anonymous, contacted through an online registry (n = 7), open-identity, contacted (n = 9), or known since childhood (n = 24). Offspring who had contacted their donor since age 18 had their motivations fulfilled after contact, got along well with him, did not view him as a relative, and had told most family members about their contact, without detriment. Whether the donor was unknown or known at this stage of their lives, most offspring were satisfied with their contact level. CONCLUSION: This cohort of donor-conceived offspring of lesbian parents was among the first to reach adulthood during a time of technological advances in DNA testing, giving access to anonymous donors via online registries. The results inform donors, families, mental health providers, medical providers and public policymakers, on whether, how, and to what degree donor-conceived offspring optimally make donor contact.

Long-Term Effects of Family Resilience on the Subjective Well-Being of Offspring in the National Longitudinal Lesbian Family Study.

The current study used a family resilience approach to investigate why some offspring of sexual minority parents thrive despite homophobic stigmatization while others do not. Specifically, the study explored the role of two specific family functioning mechanisms (i.e., during adolescence, disclosure of offspring's personal life to their parents, and family compatibility) in the association between experienced homophobic stigmatization at age 17 and subjective well-being at age 25, among 71 offspring (37 females and 34 males, all cisgender) of the National Longitudinal Lesbian Family Study (NLLFS). The results showed that, overall, the offspring reported healthy subjective well-being as emerging adults. However, among NLLFS offspring with less family compatibility as adolescents, homophobic stigmatization was related to higher scores on negative affect when they were emerging adults. Psychological counseling that supports adolescent-parent communication may help prevent the negative effect of homophobic stigmatization on the subjective well-being of offspring with sexual minority parents.

Neglected Intrauterine Device Migration Complications: Case Reports.

This series of four cases describes unusual intrauterine device (IUD) migration complications, associated etiologic factors, and their management. Recent increases in sociopolitical and medical forces worldwide contributed to inattention to these patients with subclinical IUD complications. The international movement of patients, delays in gynecologic care due to the COVID-19 pandemic, lack of health care access, shifts away from annual examinations, and patients' lack of medical records or IUD awareness can lead to long durations of neglected IUDs and associated complications. These complications might have been avoided or minimized with regular gynecologic health care. Physicians should consider moving toward routine examinations of all IUD patients, rather than away from annual examinations as has been promulgated by some medical societies. Patient education is needed on the importance of routine monitoring of IUDs and retention of device records. Clinicians should become familiar with IUDs from around the world as well as devices no longer being prescribed, as their appearance, associated complications, and presentations may differ from locally currently available devices.

Helicopter parenting, emotional avoidant coping, mental health, and homophobic stigmatization among emerging adult offspring of lesbian parents.

Helicopter parents are highly involved parents who hover over and around their child, applying developmentally inappropriate levels of control and tangible assistance. Previous research with different-sex parent families indicates that helicopter parenting is particularly problematic in emerging adulthood as it may indirectly affect the offspring's mental health through their use of emotional avoidant coping. Knowledge is lacking, however, on the antecedents and consequences of helicopter parenting in lesbian-parent families. The present longitudinal, questionnaire-based study investigated the effect of homophobic stigmatization in adolescence on mental health via helicopter parenting and emotional avoidant coping among 76 (37 females and 39 males) National Longitudinal Lesbian Family Study 25-year-old offspring of lesbian parents. All participants were cisgender, born in the USA, and conceived through donor sperm, with the majority being White, heterosexual, highly educated, and no longer living with their parents. Parents who reported that their offspring experienced homophobic stigmatization in adolescence were likely to enact higher helicopter parenting in emerging adulthood. Then, higher scores on helicopter parenting were associated with offspring's greater use of emotional avoidant coping, which in turn negatively affected the mental health of emerging adult offspring. Discussed in light of Bowen's family differentiation theory, the results suggest that clinicians should examine helicopter parenting in the context of lesbian parents' developmental history and potential tendency to project their own concerns about safety onto their child in order to reduce the distress of experienced homophobic stigmatization. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

The stability of psychological adjustment among donor-conceived offspring in the U.S. National Longitudinal Lesbian Family Study from childhood to adulthood: differences by donor type.

OBJECTIVE: To study differences by sperm donor type in the psychological adjustment of the U.S. National Longitudinal Lesbian Family Study (NLLFS) offspring across three time periods from childhood to adulthood. DESIGN: U.S.-based prospective cohort study. SETTING: Paper-and-pencil questionnaires and protected online surveys. PATIENT(S): A cohort of 74 offspring conceived by lesbian parents using an anonymous (n = 26), a known (n = 26), or an open-identity (n = 22) sperm donor. Data were reported when offspring were ages 10 (wave 4), 17 (wave 5), and 25 (wave 6). INTERVENTION(S): None. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): Achenbach Child Behavior Checklist administered to lesbian parents when offspring were ages 10 and 17 and the Achenbach Adult Self-Report administered to offspring at age 25. RESULT(S): In both relative and absolute stability, no differences were found in internalizing, externalizing, and total problem behaviors by donor type over 15 years. However, both externalizing and total problem behaviors significantly declined from age 10 to 17 and then increased from age 17 to 25. Irrespective of donor type, among the 74 offspring, the large majority scored continuously within the normal range on internalizing (n = 62, 83.8%), externalizing (n = 62, 83.8%), and total problem behaviors (n = 60, 81.1%). CONCLUSION(S): The results reassure prospective lesbian parents and provide policy makers and reproductive medicine practitioners with empirical evidence that psychological adjustment in offspring raised by lesbian parents is unrelated to donor type in the long term.

Adult offspring of lesbian parents: How do they relate to their sperm donors?

OBJECTIVE: To study how adult offspring in planned lesbian-parent families relate to their unknown or known donors. DESIGN: Qualitative analyses of the sixth wave of online surveys from a longitudinal study of adult offspring in planned lesbian families, enrolled at conception. SETTING: Community-based United States national study. PATIENT(S): The 76 participants were 25-year-old donor insemination (DI) offspring whose lesbian parent(s) enrolled in a prospective longitudinal study when these offspring were conceived. INTERVENTION(S): None. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): Offspring were asked about donor type, feelings about permanently unknown donor, satisfaction with and role of known donor, whether relationship with known donor was ongoing, and age of meeting open-identity donor. RESULT(S): This cohort (n = 76) of DI offspring with lesbian parents was among the first generation to reach adulthood. Thirty participants had permanently unknown donors and most participants felt comfortable about not knowing them. Sixteen participants had open-identity donors they had not met. Thirty had currently known donors-met in childhood (n = 22) or after open-identity donor disclosure (n = 8)-of whom two thirds had ongoing relationships with donors, half considered their donors as acquaintances, and nearly half had good feelings about their relationship, although a minority expressed conflicted feelings. CONCLUSION(S): This study of adult DI offspring from planned lesbian families shows that those who knew their donors mainly felt positively about these relationships. Qualitative analyses offered insight into offspring-donor relationships, whose numbers are increasing due to historical and demographic trends.

"We Were Among the First Non-traditional Families": Thematic Perceptions of Lesbian Parenting After 25 Years.

In the sixth wave of the U.S. National Longitudinal Lesbian Family Study (NLLFS), when their offspring were 25 years old, the parents were asked to reflect on their most challenging and best experiences raising children in non-traditional families. The responses of 131 parents were interpreted through thematic analysis. The most challenging parenting experiences fell into five major categories: (1) distress about their children's experiences of exclusion, heterosexism, or homophobic stigmatization; (2) family of origin non-acceptance of their lesbian-parent family; (3) the never-ending process of "educating the world about queer parents"; (4) homophobia or hostility toward their non-traditional family; and (5) lack of legal protections for sexual minority parent (SMP) families. Their best parenting experiences included: (1) being role models, leading to a greater acceptance of LGBTQ people; (2) treasuring the LGBTQ parent and family community; (3) teaching their children to appreciate diversity of all types; and (4) witnessing their child's pride in their non-traditional family. Some of these challenges were anticipated by the parents more than a quarter century ago at the time that they were inseminating or pregnant with the index offspring.

Predictors of mental health in emerging adult offspring of lesbian-parent families.

Emerging adulthood is a new, distinct life stage for 18- to 29-year-olds in the United States. In the sixth wave of data collection in a longitudinal cohort study (started in 1986), predictors of mental health were examined in the emerging adult offspring within lesbian-parent parent families. The donor-conceived offspring were 25 years old. In cross-sectional analyses, we assessed whether their mental health (life satisfaction and behavioral/emotional problems) was associated with personal characteristics, family characteristics, quality of important relationships, and experiences of homophobic stigmatization. The findings revealed that the predictors of mental health in these offspring were typical of what has been previously reported on emerging adults. However, offspring who reported stigmatization because of their parents' sexual identity had higher rates of behavioral/emotional problems than those who did not.

Mental health issues: a comparison of lesbian, bisexual and heterosexual women.

This study examines mental health issues among women of different sexual orientations. An anonymous survey was administered at 33 health care sites across the United States; the sample (N = 1304) included lesbians (n = 524), bisexual (n = 143) and heterosexual women (n = 637). Not only did sexual orientation influence the probability of experiencing emotional stress, but also whether a bisexual woman or lesbian had disclosed her sexual orientation (was "out") impacted the likelihood of having or having had mental health problems. Bisexual women and lesbians experienced more emotional stress as teenagers than did heterosexual women. Bisexual women were more than twice as likely to have had an eating disorder compared to lesbians. If a bisexual woman reported being out she was twice as likely to have had an eating disorder compared to a heterosexual woman. Lesbians who were not out and bisexual women who were out were 2-2.5 times more likely to experience suicidal ideation in the past 12 months. Lesbians and bisexual women who were not out were more likely to have had a suicide attempt compared to heterosexual women. Lesbians used psychotherapy for depression more commonly than did heterosexual or bisexual women. This is one of the few studies that compares lesbians, bisexual and heterosexual women. The implications of these findings are discussed.

Sexual risk factors among self-identified lesbians, bisexual women, and heterosexual women accessing primary care settings.

OBJECTIVES: There is scant data on the sexual behaviors of women of diverse sexual orientations in a low-risk population. GOALS: The goals of this study were to sample women of all sexual orientations in primary care settings and to evaluate sexual behaviors and risk for HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). STUDY: A total of 1,304 women (self-identified as 49% heterosexual, 11% bisexual, and 40% lesbian) were surveyed by anonymous questionnaire at 33 healthcare sites. RESULTS: Among women who recently had sex with men (N = 600), 51% reported ever using condoms. Heterosexual women were at highest risk for acquiring HIV as a result of lack of condom use (P <0.001), particularly in higher-risk situations. Bisexual women reported substance use with sex at a higher rate than lesbians or heterosexual women (P <0.001). Lesbians had higher rates of sex with bisexual men (P <0.001) and injection drug users (P <0.02), but also a higher rate of condom use (P <0.001) compared with bisexual or heterosexual women. CONCLUSION: Women of all sexual orientations, and particularly heterosexual women, engaged in behaviors that put them at risk for HIV and STD.