The Impact of Internalized Stigma on LGBT Parenting and the Importance of Health Care Structures: A Qualitative Study
Abstract
Research on LGBTIQ+ families has focused on the effects of being in a diverse family on the development of children. We seek to show the experience of parenthood from the perspective of LGBTIQ+ people, considering its particularities and the role that health care services play as a potential support network. We used the biographical method through open-ended interviews, participants were LGBT people, and key informants from Chile, Colombia, and Mexico were selected based on a sociostructural sampling. We found that internalized stigma impacts LGBTIQ+ parenting in five ways: the impossibility of thinking of oneself as a parent, fear of violating children's rights, fear of passing on the stigma, fear of introducing their LGBTIQ+ partner, and the greater discrimination that trans and intersex people suffer. We identified gaps in health care perceptions: the need to guarantee universal access to health care, the need to include a gender perspective and inclusive treatment by health personnel, mental health programs with a community approach, access to assisted fertilization programs, and the generation of collaborative alliances between health services, civil society organizations, and the LGBTIQ+ community. We conclude that the health system is a crucial space from which to enable guarantees for the exercise of rights and overcome internalized stigma.
Más información
Título según WOS: | The Impact of Internalized Stigma on LGBT Parenting and the Importance of Health Care Structures: A Qualitative Study |
Título de la Revista: | International #Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health |
Volumen: | 18 |
Número: | 10 |
Editorial: | MDPI |
Fecha de publicación: | 2021 |
DOI: |
10.3390/ijerph18105373 |
Notas: | ISI |