Attitudes towards same-sex parenting in reproduction policy and family policy contexts

Sexual minorities’ rights have substantially advanced across high-income countries over the past decades. However, as cis-gender same-sex couples cannot reproduce by conventional means, inequalities in reproduction policy and family policy remain an obstacle to their full equality. This paper investigates how regulations of adoption, medically assisted reproduction (MAR) and parental leave are associated with attitudes towards female and male same-sex parents. Conceptually, the study draws on policy feedback theory and gendered care norms. Between-within models are estimated to investigate whether the observed associations are attributable to unobserved longstanding differences between countries or to actual policy change. The 2012 and 2022 ISSP waves of the “Family and Changing Gender Roles” module are merged with the ILGA World Database, the International Reproduction Policy Database and information from the Parental Leave Network. Findings on adoption policy lend support to policy feedback effects. Within countries, decreasing differences in parental leave for male same-sex parents correspond to increased support for this family type. The relationship between MAR regulations and attitudes towards same-sex parenting, in contrast, appears to be driven by underlying cross-national differences. Furthermore, across all policy types, the association between policies and attitudes is stronger for male than for female same-sex parents.