Abstract
Background: Despite the globally rising recognition of same-sex relationships, sexual minority men continue to report lower childbearing desire and intention compared to their heterosexual counterparts, even though both groups tend to consider parenting as valuable. This study capitalized on the prospective process of legalization of same-sex marriage (SSM) in Taiwan to capture changes in gay and bisexual men’s desire and attitudes towards parenthood as a function of the legalization of SSM. Methods: 863 respondents (Mean age = 27.9 years ±5.8) completed an online survey shortly before and 1½ years after the legalization of SSM. They reported their childbearing desire, marital status, and attitudes towards childbearing and marriage. Results: Contrary to our expectation of an increase in childbearing desire due to enhanced legal recognition of same-sex relationships, our study found that fewer participants in the follow-up survey expressed a childbearing desire (59.0% vs 74.2%), and the perceived importance of childbearing dropped mildly (3.48 to 3.26, Cohen’s d=0.269). Those who expressed a consistent childbearing desire attached greater importance to SSM and regarded SSM as a source of a sense of security and recognition by friends/family. The perceived importance of SSM was mildly positively related to the perceived importance of childbearing. Conclusion: Although the decrease in childbearing desire and its perceived importance may be attributable to a lack of access to family building options (e.g., surrogacy and adoption) and the COVID-19 pandemic, our findings illustrate that parenthood can be a logical next-step for Taiwanese male same-sex couples and call for the development of affordable family building options for these men.
Pathways to fatherhood: evaluating the priorities of self-identified gay and bisexual men pursuing family building options
