To build a family: exploring preferred paths to parenthood among plurisexual individuals without children

Abstract

Aims/background: Limited research has examined family-building strategies among plurisexual individuals. Culture and gender are essential determinants of parenthood prospects among individuals with minoritized sexual identities. For plurisexual individuals, the partner's gender also seems to play a critical role. Our investigation aimed to explore cisgender plurisexual individuals' preferred paths to parenthood considering their country of origin, gender, and partner's gender.

Design/method: We examined associations between preferred pathways to parenthood and country, gender, and partner's gender among 405 cisgender plurisexual individuals aged between 18 and 45 years (M = 25.76; SD = 5.57), from Portugal (n = 140; 34.9%), Israel (n = 78; 19.3%), Poland (n = 85; 21%), and the UK (n = 102; 25.2%).

Results: Overall, couple adoption and sexual intercourse were the most chosen pathways to parenthood, and self-insemination and co-parenting were the least chosen. Participants from Poland and the United Kingdom were less likely to choose artificial insemination, single adoption, and self-insemination than their Portuguese counterparts. Women were more likely than men to choose artificial insemination. Individuals in different-gender relationships were more likely to choose sexual intercourse as a means of having children than were those in same-gender relationships, and the opposite was true for artificial insemination.

Conclusion: Country, gender, and the partner's gender influence plurisexual individuals' choice of some parenthood pathways. Psychological and reproductive counselling should consider these aspects.

Keywords: Plurisexuality; cross-cultural; gender; parenthood; partner gender.