TY  - JOUR
A1  - Boertien , Diederik 
A1  - Cortina, Clara
A1  - Lozano, Mariona
T1  - Pathways and obstacles to parenthood among women in same-sex couples in Spain
Y1  - 2024/05/15
JF  - Demographic Research
JO  - Demographic Research
SN  - 1435-9871
SP  - 1039
EP  - 1070
DO  - 10.4054/DemRes.2024.50.35
VL  - 50
IS  - 35
UR  - https://www.demographic-research.org/volumes/vol50/35/
L1  - https://www.demographic-research.org/volumes/vol50/35/50-35.pdf
L2  - https://www.demographic-research.org/volumes/vol50/35/50-35.pdf
N2  - Background: Even though same-sex couples face clear obstacles to parenthood, little is known about the extent to which preferences and obstacles can explain the lower levels of parenthood among individuals in same-sex couples. 

Objective: The objective is to document routes into parenthood and to quantify the gap between observed and desired number of children among women in different-sex and same-sex couples in Spain. 

Methods: We use the representative 2018 Spanish fertility survey, which includes 14,556 women, of whom 139 are in a same-sex couple. We use coarsened exact matching techniques to match women across couple types who are identical on a set of observable characteristics. 

Results: Less than half of women in a same-sex couple had children by the age of 40, as compared to around 80% of women in a different-sex couple. We do not observe changes in rates of parenthood across cohorts of women in same-sex couples, but do observe changes in the pathways followed. Even though women in same-sex couples have lower levels of desired fertility, the gap between desired and realized fertility is larger for women in same-sex couples than for women in different-sex couples. 

Conclusions: Overall, results show that obstacles to parenthood are prevalent among women in both different-sex and same-sex couples, but appear particularly high and persistent for the latter. 

Contribution: We are the first to quantify differences in the extent to which parenthood desires are met between women in same-sex and different-sex couples in Spain, using representative data. 

ER  -