Male-Partnered Sexual Minority Women: Sexual Identity Disclosure to Health Care Providers During the Perinatal Period

Male-partnered sexual minority women (SMW) have received little research attention, despite the fact that they represent a large proportion of SMW - particularly child-bearing SMW. Male-partnered SMW are less "out" than female-partnered SMW and will likely be "read" as heterosexual by perinatal providers. Given this, and evidence that pregnant women have unique mental health care needs, the current study focuses on male-partnered SMW (n = 28) during the perinatal period, recruited from Toronto, Canada and Massachusetts, USA, in an effort to understand disclosure and concealment processes in general and to perinatal heath care providers specifically. Women generally reported that they did not disclose (but made no effort to conceal) their sexual identities and histories in new or unfamiliar relationships, largely because the topic rarely came up, although some women highlighted bisexual invisibility and fear of biphobia as reasons for non-disclosure. Despite overall positive experiences with perinatal providers, less than one-quarter of the sample (n = 6) had disclosed their sexual identities and histories to them. Most women felt that this information was generally not relevant to their health care, and particularly their reproductive/obstetric care, although some believed that disclosure would be appropriate under conditions of sexual health risk (n = 8). Others noted that although they did not feel the need to disclose, they did prefer an LGBQ-affirming provider (n = 7). Findings provide insight into male-partnered SMW's views and patterns of disclosure during the perinatal period, and have implications for providers, organizations, and scholars who interface with SMW. Pregnant sexual minority women with male partners are often assumed to be heterosexual, raising questions about whether and when these women disclose their sexual minority status in the perinatal context. This qualitative study of 28 women found that most participants did not share their sexual identity or sexual histories with their perinatal health care providers because this information was perceived as not relevant to their care, although some women nevertheless valued having LGBTQ friendly providers.