Abstract

This article concerns childless bisexual and gay men’s expectations of potential future fatherhood. Social context, biological prerequisites and legal restrictions have in previous research proven to be complicating factors in the process of starting a family. This article investigates the experience of 14 bisexual and gay men in Sweden who are contemplating parenthood. Semi-structured interviews were conducted. The interviews were analyzed using grounded theory methodology, resulting in a model that identified obstructing and enabling factors in realizing future parenthood. The path to parenthood was seen as a process containing both the decision to pursue parenthood and the belief that parenthood was a possibility. The process toward parthood was not linear, but a pendular movement, affected by obstructing factors and enabling factors. One of the main findings was the experience of invisibility in relation to involuntary childlessness amongst bisexual and gay men. Simultaneously, the possibility to break this invisibility, to become a parental role model for other bisexual and gay men, and to revise images of the nuclear family were strong motivating factors. The findings are discussed in relation to Swedish gay men and fathers’ social situation.

摘要

这篇文章涉及无子女的双性恋和男同性恋者对未来可能成为父亲的期望。之前的研究证明，社会背景、生物学先决条件和法律限制是组建家庭过程中的复杂因素。本文调查了瑞典 14 名正在考虑为人父母的双性恋和男同性恋者的经历。进行了半结构化访谈。使用扎根理论方法对访谈进行了分析，产生了一个模型，该模型确定了实现未来为人父母的障碍和促成因素。为人父母的道路被视为一个过程，既包含追求为人父母的决定，也包含成为可能为人父母的信念。分身的过程不是线性的，而是一种受阻碍因素和促成因素影响的摆动运动。主要发现之一是双性恋和男同性恋者非自愿无子女的隐形体验。同时，打破这种不可见性、成为其他双性恋和男同性恋者的父母榜样以及修改核心家庭形象的可能性是强大的推动因素。研究结果与瑞典男同性恋者和父亲的社会状况有关。