Introduction

Very little is known about the attachment figures of children born to parents with minoritized sexual identities who used assisted reproduction, despite the importance of attachment for healthy child development. The present study examined the identification and utilization of attachment figures (e.g., parents, siblings, teachers, friends, cousins) for general attachment and companionship needs, as well as in context-specific and emotion-eliciting attachment situations, by donor-conceived children of lesbian mothers in middle childhood.

Methods

Thirty-six children 6–12 years of age (M_years = 9.20, SD = 2.50; 47.22% assigned females at birth) of lesbian mothers through donor insemination, all residing in Italy, completed an open-ended interview to identify their attachment figures.

Results

Children first sought parents for general attachment needs, context-specific attachment situations, and emotion-eliciting situations at school, and demonstrated no preference between the biological and the non-biological mother or the primary and the secondary caregiver. Also, children first sought peers (i.e., siblings, friends, cousins) as much as parents for general companionship needs, while they first sought parents for context-specific companionship.

Conclusion

In middle childhood, lesbian mothers continue to function as safe havens and secure bases for their children. However, it cannot be excluded that children first turn to their biological mother for context-specific attachment situations. Also, children seek out peers more in specific companionship situations (e.g., sharing secrets, playing).

Policy Implications

As lesbian mothers through donor insemination effectively meet children’s attachment needs, regardless of their biological status and caregiving role, the lack of legal recognition of these families in Italy is empirically unfounded.

中文翻译：

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女同性恋母亲捐赠的孩子在童年中期的依恋程度

 介绍

尽管依恋对于儿童健康发展很重要，但对于使用辅助生殖的少数性别认同父母所生的孩子的依恋数字却知之甚少。本研究考察了捐赠者怀上的孩子对依恋对象（例如父母、兄弟姐妹、老师、朋友、表兄弟姐妹）的识别和利用，以满足一般依恋和陪伴需求，以及在特定背景和引发情感依恋的情况下童年中期的女同性恋母亲。

 方法

居住在意大利的 36 名 6-12 岁儿童（M _years = 9.20，SD = 2.50；47.22% 出生时为女性）通过捐赠授精由女同性恋母亲生下，完成了一项开放式研究采访以确定他们的依恋对象。

 结果

孩子们首先会寻求父母的一般依恋需求、特定情境的依恋情境以及在学校引发情绪的情境，并且在亲生母亲和非亲生母亲或主要和次要照顾者之间没有表现出任何偏好。此外，孩子首先寻求同龄人（即兄弟姐妹、朋友、表兄弟姐妹），就像寻求父母一样满足一般的陪伴需求，而他们首先寻找父母是为了满足特定背景的陪伴。

 结论

在童年中期，女同性恋母亲继续充当孩子的安全港和安全基地。然而，不能排除孩子首先向他们的亲生母亲寻求特定环境的依恋情况。此外，孩子们在特定的陪伴情况下（例如，分享秘密、玩耍）会更多地寻找同伴。

 政策影响

由于女同性恋母亲通过捐赠授精有效地满足了儿童的依恋需求，无论其生物学状况和照顾角色如何，意大利对这些家庭缺乏法律认可在经验上是没有根据的。