The purpose of this qualitative study was to identify recurring themes about impending coparenthood common among prenatal dyadic conversations shared between unmarried parents. Forty Black mothers and fathers expecting a first baby together met with a male-female mentor team for facilitated dialogues six times during the pregnancy, with sessions audiotaped and transcribed. Guided by basic elements of grounded theory, coders identified five cross-cutting themes discussed by coparents relevant to their coparenting expectancies: establishing the baby’s family system, supports and threats to coparenting efforts, reflecting on fatherhood—Connecting past with future father legacies, acculturating the child/handling parenting differences, and effects of relationship status on coparenting. These themes underscored a common commitment fathers and mothers shared in figuring circumstances out for their child. Analyses portray a rich, generative, and introspective set of dialogues reflecting shared deliberation about family dynamics after the baby’s arrival. This study’s findings address a significant gap in the literature and highlight the value of narrative methodologies to understand joint narratives of unmarried Black coparents more thoroughly as they transition to new parenthood.

这项定性研究的目的是确定在未婚父母之间共享的产前二元对话中常见的关于即将到来的共同亲子关系的反复出现的主题。四十名期待第一个婴儿的黑人母亲和父亲在怀孕期间与一个男女导师团队会面，进行了六次促进对话，会议录音和转录。在扎根理论的基本要素的指导下，编码人员确定了共同父母讨论的与他们共同抚养期望相关的五个跨领域主题：建立婴儿的家庭系统、对共同抚养努力的支持和威胁、反思父亲身份——将过去与未来父亲的遗产联系起来，文化儿童/处理养育差异，以及关系状态对共同养育的影响。这些主题强调了父亲和母亲在为他们的孩子解决环境问题时的共同承诺。分析描绘了一组丰富的、生成性的和内省的对话，反映了对婴儿出生后家庭动态的共同审议。这项研究的发现解决了文献中的一个重大空白，并强调了叙事方法的价值，以便在未婚黑人共同父母过渡到新父母身份时更彻底地理解他们的联合叙事。