Experiences of LGBT parents when accessing healthcare for their children: a literature review
Intended for healthcare professionals
Evidence and practice    

Experiences of LGBT parents when accessing healthcare for their children: a literature review

Lucille Kelsall-Knight Lecturer in Children’s Nursing, University of Birmingham College of Medical and Dental Sciences, Birmingham, England

Why you should read this article:
  • To improve your knowledge of the experiences of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) parents when accessing healthcare for their children

  • To familiarise yourself with the concept of heteronormativity

  • To understand how staff awareness and training can improve the healthcare experiences of LGBT parents

There are increasing numbers of parents who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT), but there is little research on the experiences of LGBT parents when accessing healthcare for their children. The aims of this literature review were to identify existing articles on the topic, explore LGBT parents’ experiences and draw implications for practice. The review included ten studies published from 1995 onwards and conducted in Australia, Sweden, the US and Finland. Many LGBT parents had positive experiences while others had encountered overt homophobia. However, there remained an underlying sense of heteronormativity, with many healthcare professionals making heterosexist assumptions and healthcare forms being heterocentric.

The documentation used in healthcare settings should be adapted and healthcare professionals should improve their awareness on this issue and have training on how to recognise and include LGBT families. The review did not identify any studies on this subject from the UK, which suggests that research on the healthcare experiences of families with LGBT parents in the UK is required.

Nursing Children and Young People. doi: 10.7748/ncyp.2021.e1346

Peer review

This article has been subject to open peer review and has been checked for plagiarism using automated software

@LKelsallKnight

Correspondence

L.M.Kelsall-Knight@bham.ac.uk

Conflict of interest

None declared

Kelsall-Knight L (2021) Experiences of LGBT parents when accessing healthcare for their children: a literature review. Nursing Children and Young People. doi: 10.7748/ncyp.2021.e1346

Published online: 04 January 2021

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