Enhancing Counselors’ Cultural Competency When Working With Lesbian-Headed Families During the Processes of Family Formation, Conception, Pregnancy, and Birth

Recent research indicates that there is an increase of lesbian-headed families who are choosing to start families. As a result, lesbians are increasingly more visible in maternity health care services. There is limited research available regarding lesbian family formulation and even more scarce is research on implications of practice for counselors working with lesbian-headed families. As lesbians increasingly opt to start families, there will be a growing need for lesbian- affirmative counselors that can address various concerns and challenges specific to lesbian-headed families. The purpose of this article is to enhance counselors’ cultural competency when working with lesbian-headed families to better facilitate discussions surrounding family formation, conception, pregnancy, and birth.