Building a rainbow family: parenthood aspirations of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender/gender diverse individuals

Throughout the last century and the beginning of the present one, multiple events have contributed to the legitimization of families formed by lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender/gender diverse individuals (LGBT). First, the social roles of men and women have come to be seen as not irrevocably linked to their sex assigned at birth. Second, the civil rights movements, including the LGBT movement, played a major role in reclaiming individual and family rights of sexual and gender minority individuals. Third, reproductive technologies have allowed for the birth of children without heterosexual intercourse. As a result of the above-mentioned advances, same-sex marriage and same-sex parenting have been legalized in many countries and parenthood is nowadays a desired and anticipated life goal independent of individuals’ sexual orientation and/or gender identity. Through a narrative review, in the present chapter, we aimed to provide an overview of research focusing on the parenthood aspirations of LGBT persons. Prospective parenthood processes and their determinants were described for sexual minority (lesbian, gay, and bisexual individuals) and gender minority (transgender and gender diverse individuals) persons separately, given the specific challenges these two groups face regarding family formation. Lastly, directions for future research were outlined