"We are two mothers": The experience of dual motherhood from the perspective of Relational Psychoanalysis

• Grant number: 24/06673-1
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: July 01, 2024
• End date: June 30, 2025
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Psychology
• Principal Investigator: Manoel Antônio dos Santos
• Grantee: Amanda Brandane Minari
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Filosofia, Ciências e Letras de Ribeirão Preto (FFCLRP). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Ribeirão Preto , SP, Brazil

Abstract

This research is situated at the intersection of motherhood and sexual diversity-specifically dual motherhood-encompassing various family configurations composed of female couples. To analyze how the motherhood experience is shaped for each mother, the study considers the interaction of intergenerational and transgenerational psychic contents transmitted by the family of origin, which justifies that the life history is the structuring axis for understanding their experiences. The study aims to analyze the meanings attributed by cisgender lesbian or bisexual women to the experience of dual motherhood, seeking to understand the psychological dimensions involved. A clinical-qualitative method will be used. Data collection will be conducted through open interviews via a digital platform, guided by the question: "Please, tell me your life story." Spontaneous autobiographical reconstruction will allow collaborators to freely express their experiences, feelings, and meanings attributed to the events they select as important for understanding their experience of dual motherhood. The participants will be cisgender women who self-identify as lesbians/bisexuals, aged 30 to 40, who are experiencing dual motherhood. The data will be organized and submitted to reflexive thematic analysis, from which the contents will be grouped into thematic categories based on the proximity of themes addressed by the participants during the meetings. The results will be interpreted with support from the theoretical framework of relational psychoanalysis in dialogue with gender studies. The research aims to contribute to bringing visibility to non-heteronormative maternal experiences, promoting an understanding of the psychological repercussions of dual motherhood and, more particularly, its effects on the psychic constitution of the women who experience it.