Paper
Friday, July 23, 2004
We Are Mothers,. Too: A Critical Ethnography With Lesbian Birth Families
Michelle Renaud, RN, PhD, School of Nursing, School of Nursing, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
| Learning Objective #1: Describe the journey of lesbian mothers from conception through integration of a child into their daily lives |
| Learning Objective #2: Articulate the nursing education, practice, and research implications of caring for lesbian birth mothers and their families |
This study was designed to describe lesbians’ personal and health care experiences regarding becoming pregnant, giving birth, and being mothers and co-mothers within the context of family. Other goals were to describe how power relations and structures support social injustice and address future policy changes based on the findings. Data were collected from 11 lesbian couples and 1 single mother using in-depth interviews. Additional data collection methods were participant observation at a lesbian mother support group and researcher-conducted focus group. Applied critical ethnography revealed seven organizing themes: Preparing the Way: Becoming Ready; Conception: You Can’t Just Fall Into It; You Can Hear A Heartbeat: Pregnancy; Birthing Our Babies; The Work of Mothers, and Mothers Who Work; Families Who Sustain and Families Who Oppose; and Sources of Support In Everyday Life. Continual analysis of field notes and audiotape recordings from a critical perspective revealed socially constructed dominant discourses: We’re Used to Normal Families; If There’s a Baby, There Has to be a Father Someplace; Suffer the Little Children; You’re Not the Baby’s Mother; and Discomfort with Difference. Mothers in this research navigated, challenged, and circumvented normative discourses by The Buffer Zone, Solidarity and Support, Providing For The Child and Seeking Tolerant Health Care. The findings of this research provide information about lesbian mothers’ experiences of pregnancy, birth and early parenting, and the ways that society portrays mothers in a primarily heterosexual model. The knowledge created from this research will be used to inform health care providers, policy makers, and the general public about the specific needs, concerns, and experiences of lesbian mothers who biologically have a baby.
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Sigma Theta Tau International
July 22-24, 2004