The meaning of family and motherhood is increasingly under scrutiny in contemporary society as individuals make new reproductive and parenting choices. Social change has occurred in the structure and form of family in the last three decades and family 'structures' generally have been fragmenting, changing and reforming (Morgan, 1997, Allen, 1999, Silva & Smart, 1999). New forms of families have included those created by lesbian couples, who found new routes to parenthood either through donor insemination or adoption. The focus of this thesis is lesbian couples who became parents as partners and the distinctive issues that arose with respect to their experiences. The reproductive choices of these parental couples evoked particular political debates in relation to bio-ethics, religion and naturalness. Lesbian led families were achieved through a complex array of negotiations. These included negotiations between themselves as to who would be the biological mother (in the case of DI families), and how, in the absence of a father figure, the role of 'mother' is defined for both of them whether their children are born biologically to one of them or adopted.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:493705 |
| Date | January 2008 |
| Creators | Quaid, Sheila |
| Publisher | University of Sunderland |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Source | http://sure.sunderland.ac.uk/3422/ |
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