Bower-Brown, Susie;
Foley, Sarah;
Jadva, Vasanti;
Golombok, Susan;
(2023)
Grappling with tradition: the experiences of cisgender, heterosexual mothers and fathers in elective co-parenting arrangements.
Journal of Family Studies
10.1080/13229400.2023.2209060.
(In press).
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Abstract
Elective co-parenting families, meaning two (or more parents) who are not in a romantic relationship having a child together, are becoming more common amongst cisgender, heterosexual parents. The study of elective co-parenting families offers researchers a unique opportunity to decouple co-parenting relationships from romantic relationships, but little research to date has explored their experiences. This study explored two research questions: why do individuals decide to enter into elective co-parenting arrangements? And how do they manage their co-parenting arrangement and their relationship with their co-parent? Interview data from 10 elective co-parents (5 mothers and 5 fathers) were analyzed according to the principles of reflexive thematic analysis. Sociological theorisations of family practices, family display and family thinking were utilized to make sense of the data. The results centred around two organizing themes (‘Reproducing the traditional family’ and ‘Modernising the traditional family’), and participants experienced a tension between these two ideas. Participants aimed to manage their co-parenting relationship with shared values and friendship, but defining their relationship was complex and gendered parenting patterns were ubiquitous. Findings add nuance to theorisations of family life and demonstrate that traditional parenthood ideologies remain pervasive, as parents aim to imagine and pursue parenthood on their own terms.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | Grappling with tradition: the experiences of cisgender, heterosexual mothers and fathers in elective co-parenting arrangements |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1080/13229400.2023.2209060 |
| Publisher version: | https://doi.org/10.1080/13229400.2023.2209060 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. The images or other third-party material in this article are included in the Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in the credit line; if the material is not included under the Creative Commons license, users will need to obtain permission from the license holder to reproduce the material. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
| Keywords: | Co-parenting, motherhood, fatherhood, gender, family display, qualitative |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education > UCL Institute of Education UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education > UCL Institute of Education > IOE - Social Research Institute UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education > UCL Institute of Education > IOE - Social Research Institute > IOE - Thomas Coram Research Unit |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10170462 |
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