Father-child bonding and mental health in gay fathers using cross-border surrogacy during the COVID-19 pandemic

REPRODUCTIVE BIOMEDICINE ONLINE

卷:43

Article

Carone, Nicola¹  Manzi, Demetria¹  Barone, Lavinia¹  Lingiardi, Vittorio²  Baiocco, Roberto³  Bos, Henny M. W.⁴ 

[1] Univ Pavia, Dept Brain & Behav Sci, Lab Attachment & Parenting LAG, Piazza Botta 11, I-27100 Pavia, Italy

[2] Sapienza Univ Rome, Dept Dynam Clin & Hlth Psychol, Via Apuli 1, I-00185 Rome, Italy

[3] Sapienza Univ Rome, Dept Dev & Social Psychol, Via Marsi 78, I-00185 Rome, Italy

[4] Univ Amsterdam, Res Inst Child Dev & Educ, Nieuwe Achtergracht 127, NL-1018 WS Amsterdam, Netherlands

关键词: COVID-19;    Cross-border surrogacy;    Father-child bonding;    Gay fathers;    Mental health;   

DOI  :  10.1016/j.rbmo.2021.05.023

来源: Elsevier

【 摘 要 】

Research question: What are the psychological implications of the COVID-19 pandemic for father-child bonding and mental health among Italian gay fathers pursuing surrogacy in the USA or Canada? Design: Between 20 March and 29 July 2020, this cross-sectional case-control study collected data on father-child bonding quality, depression, anxiety and somatization in 30 Italian gay fathers (n=15 families) who were having or successfully had a child through cross-border surrogacy during the COVID-19 pandemic. These fathers were compared with a sociodemographically similar group of 50 Italian gay fathers (n=25 families) who had children through cross-border surrogacy prior to the pandemic. Results: Although father-child bonding quality and the mental health symptoms of fathers scored below the clinical cut-off points in both groups, fathers who had or were having a child during the COVID-19 pandemic reported poorer father-child bonding (estimate 3.04, SE 1.47, P=0.044) and more depressive (estimate -1.47, SE 0.49, P=0.005), anxious (estimate -1.96, SE 0.55, P<0.001) and somatic symptoms (estimate -2.48, SE 0.52, P<0.001). Conclusions: The findings call for the development of international guidelines for cross-border surrogacy and underline the need for tailored and ongoing psychological and legal support for intended gay fathers to ease their strain and anxiety related to having a child through cross-border surrogacy during the COVID-19 pandemic.

【 授权许可】

Free