Balanced and fulfilled. Children from single-parent families raised by a single mother are doing very well, according to researchers at the Center for Family Research at Cambridge University (UK). They presented their study at the Annual Congress of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology (ESHRE) which is being held in Helsinki (Finland) on July 4, 2016. These children seem to be well adjusted and express positive feelings about family life even if they ask questions about it.absence of fatherin their family.
Children raised by a single mother as well adjusted as others
The researchers looked at 51 “solo” mother families and 52 families with two heterosexual parents with, in both cases, at least one child aged 4 to 9 and conceived thanks to a child. gamete donation. In both groups, mothers were asked to answer a questionnaire on their child’s adjustment and parental stress. In parallel, the researchers conducted interviews with single mothers to find out how their children felt about the father and whether or not this was a topic of discussion within the family. Finally, 47 children raised by a single mother agreed to answer questions on family life and friendships. The study found no difference in child adjustment between the two types of families. However, single-parent families are more exposed to financial difficulties and parental stress. On the other hand, single mothers reported that their children often expressed neutral or mixed feelings about the absence of a father.
Little or no stigma at school
Most of the children questioned (59%) admitted to expressing a high (19%) or very high (40%) pleasure in going to school. All of the children reported having at least one friend and the majority (51%) cited at least five friends. Finally, 63% of children of single mothers have never been discriminated against at school because of their single-parent family. “Between the ages of 4 and 9, children conceived by donors in single mother families seem to be doing well overall. However, we do not yet know how these children will fare over time, or what they will think and feel about being conceived with the help of a donor and / or having grew up without a father when they are older“underlines Doctor Sophie Zadeh, doctor in social psychology and author of the study, in a press release from the EurekAlert website. But according to researchers, the absence of a father and conception by donor gametes bothers children less than the quality of upbringing and parent-child relationships.
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