There is a variety of families headed by a lesbian or gay male parent or same-sex couple. Findings from research suggest that children with lesbian or gay parents are comparable with children with heterosexual parents on key psychosocial developmental outcomes. In many ways, children of lesbian or gay parents have similar experiences of family life compared with children in heterosexual families. Some special considerations apply to the context of lesbian and gay parenting: variation in family forms, children's awareness of lesbian and gay relationships, heterosexism, and homophobia. These issues have important implications for managing clinical work with children of lesbian mothers or gay fathers.

This study explored the impact of sexual identity on attitudes towards parenthood among childless individuals from Portugal and the United Kingdom (UK). Compared to heterosexuals, lesbians, gay men and bisexuals were less likely to: desire and intend to have children, be concerned about the prospect of childlessness or perceive children as a source of enrichment. They also anticipated more stigma as parents than did heterosexuals. Compared to UK participants, all Portuguese participants, independent of sexual identity, desired and intended more to have children, were more concerned about childlessness, reported higher levels of parental commitment, anticipated less stigma and expected more social support as parents. Portuguese lesbian, gay and bisexual participants expressed greater desire to have children than did those in the UK. Only in the UK did lesbian, gay and bisexual participants perceive children less as a source of enrichment than did heterosexuals and anticipate negative costs associated with parenting. We concluded that the intersectional influence of different cultural climates on parenting aspirations should be taken into account in future research alongside sexual identity.

The idea that people who are transgender or non-binary are not interested in becoming parents has been refuted by several studies. However, both medical unknowns and cisnormativity surround the process of becoming a parent for transgender or non-binary people, with little known about the psychosocial impact on the family formation dilemmas of transgender and non-binary adults. Employing Life Course Theory as our theoretical framework, three focus group interviews were conducted with eleven transgender or non-binary adults. Qualitative data analysis of focus group interview transcripts was conducted through Thematic Analysis. Four overarching interlinked themes were identified concerning the dilemmas perceived by the nine participants who contemplated future parenthood: (i) Balancing a desire for parenthood and desires for other life goals; (ii) Feeling that who I am doesn’t fit into the cisgender system of accessing fostering, adoption or fertility services; (iii) Experiencing the conjoined challenges of gender and fertility embodiment as I see them; (iv) Searching for a non-binary or gender appropriate self and the need for flexible future planning centered on reproductive capacity. Overall, thoughts about gender transition were often interwoven with parenthood plans and in a dialectical fashion the desire and intention to have, or not have, children was implicated in satisfaction with gender transition. The significance of these themes is discussed in relation to how hopes for parenthood could be realized without jeopardizing gender identity and the need for a future focused, flexible, and open-minded approach on the part of fertility and adoption services.