Two Females, One Family: Exploring Counselors’ Role during Third-Party Family Formation
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Abstract
“Same-sex women” households are the third largest household in the United States (Rausch & Wikoff, 2017). Female partners are increasingly deciding to have children in the context of their queer relationships (Dionisius, 2015) and are aiding to redefine traditional conceptions of family (Ben-Ari & Livni, 2006; Wall, 2011). However, female partner family formation is unique due to limited resources, a multitude of decisions, and layers of heteronormativity and discrimination. There is scant research available outside nursing literature, yet often to receive third-party fertility services fertility counseling is required. This qualitative study utilized Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) to explore the experiences of female partners receiving third-party fertility treatments during family formation and to investigate counseling’s potential role in the family formation process. Three female partner couples were interviewed, individually. There were two emerging themes: love and disconnection. Counselors are encouraged to address love and disconnection when working with female partners engaging in family formation. More specifically, to enhance love counselors can address relational images and integrity and to heal disconnection counselors can address autonomy and belonging. Recommendations and directions for future research are discussed.