The Impact of Internalized Stigma on LGBT Parenting and the Importance of Health Care Structures: A Qualitative Study

Carolina Alday-Mondaca and Siu Lay-Lisboa
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Carolina Alday-Mondaca: Facultad de Humanidades, Escuela de Psicología, Universidad Católica del Norte, Antofagasta 1270709, Chile
Siu Lay-Lisboa: Facultad de Humanidades, Escuela de Psicología, Universidad Católica del Norte, Antofagasta 1270709, Chile

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 10, 1-15

Abstract: Research on LGBTIQ+ families has focused on the effects of being in a diverse family on the development of children. We seek to show the experience of parenthood from the perspective of LGBTIQ+ people, considering its particularities and the role that health care services play as a potential support network. We used the biographical method through open-ended interviews, participants were LGBT people, and key informants from Chile, Colombia, and Mexico were selected based on a sociostructural sampling. We found that internalized stigma impacts LGBTIQ+ parenting in five ways: the impossibility of thinking of oneself as a parent, fear of violating children’s rights, fear of passing on the stigma, fear of introducing their LGBTIQ+ partner, and the greater discrimination that trans and intersex people suffer. We identified gaps in health care perceptions: the need to guarantee universal access to health care, the need to include a gender perspective and inclusive treatment by health personnel, mental health programs with a community approach, access to assisted fertilization programs, and the generation of collaborative alliances between health services, civil society organizations, and the LGBTIQ+ community. We conclude that the health system is a crucial space from which to enable guarantees for the exercise of rights and overcome internalized stigma.

Keywords: LGBTIQ+; maternity; paternity; parenting; internalized stigma; health care system (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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