Sensitivity and rough-and-tumble play in gay and heterosexual single-father families through surrogacy: The role of microaggressions and fathers’ rumination

Gay and heterosexual single fathers through surrogacy may be targets of microaggressions (i.e., subtle and implicit stigma-related stressors), as they present highly contested aspects of family formation: single parenthood, surrogacy conception, and, in the case of gay single fathers, nonheterosexual orientation. However, to date, no research has addressed whether experiences of microaggression impact the quality of the father– child relationship and the factors that mediate this process. The present study investigated the indirect effect of family-related microaggressions on observed sensitivity and rough-and-tumble play (RTP) via rumination in 35 gay and 30 heterosexual single-father families (n 65), with children (3–10 years of age) born through surrogacy. Both groups of fathers showed high sensitivity and RTP quality during parent– child interactions. However, regardless of their sexual orientation, single fathers who perceived more frequent microaggressions also reported a higher tendency to “brood” in response to stress, and this was, in turn, linked to lower sensitivity— but not RTP quality—with their child. The findings provide a unique contribution to the fathering literature, as these underscore—for the first time—that although explicit and overt forms of stigmatization may differ in form and content, subtle and ambiguous forms of prejudice are equally detrimental to the parent– child relationship. Accordingly, the findings emphasize the need to raise awareness in practitioners and the broader society about the ways in which values and ideological assumptions about parenting, families, and conception may affect the lives of gay and heterosexual single fathers and their children.