Parenting Styles of Gay Fathers

Abstract

Little is known about the parenting style of male couples who become fathers via surrogacy, adoption or fostering. In a European study, 35 gay fathers and 33 heterosexual fathers answered questionnaires with respect to their parenting style with their first-born child, temperament characteristics of that child, and their own personality. The results indicate that gay fathers show higher levels of warmth and cooperation with their partner than heterosexual fathers. Gay fathers also reported less irritation if their first-born child displayed a negative temperament. No differences in the parenting style were found with respect to the sex of their child. Our results contribute to the limited empirical research about same-sex male parents and parenting style.