1. Objectifs

Intentions :
«The purpose of this study was to gain an understanding of the lived experience of women who coparent together in both heterosexual and lesbian stepfamilies.» (p. 558)

Questions/Hypothèses :
The authors «were interested in […] how women define their maternal role and those of the other women involved in childrearing in the stepfamily, […] how this definition was associated with traditionally gendered aspects of family life in both heterosexual and lesbian stepfamilies, and […] what tools and strategies they employ to coordinate with the other women who coparent with them.» (p. 558)

2. Méthode

Échantillon/Matériau :
«The convenience sample included 15 adult women, who in the majority of cases (80%) had been living in a stepfamily household for at least 2 years. The participants were from the province of Quebec [.]» (p. 559) Sample includes women in both heterosexual and same-sex relationships.

Instruments :
Guide d’entretien semi-directif

Type de traitement des données :
Analyse de contenu

3. Résumé

«In this study, the intensive motherhood ideology was prevalent across participants, both in how they defined the “realness” of their parenthood and how they conceptualized levels of legitimacy within maternal roles, with biological and legal mothers (and biological fathers) as most legitimate and stepmothers as supportive coparents to their spouse. Perhaps because in same-sex stepfamilies women have already broadened their definition of legitimate motherhood to include legal mothers, they seemed more open in general to offering a seat at the parenting table to stepmothers, including their ex-partner’s new partner. Although stepmothers in same-sex stepfamilies still saw themselves as secondary parents, they appeared to have more direct contact with all the other women on the parenting team, and better opportunities for coparenting across households. In contrast, in heterosexual stepfamilies, women tended to avoid direct contact with the other woman involved in parenting their (step)children, choosing instead to rely mostly on direct communication with the child or with their male ex-partner or spouse to coordinate across households. In this manner, biological parents take on the role of family diplomats who can strike deals on behalf of their household, whereas stepparents are relegated to a supportive role in implementing agreements made by the biological parents’ coparenting team.» (p. 568)