Grappling with tradition: the experiences of cisgender, heterosexual mothers and fathers in elective co-parenting arrangements

Editorial reading guide · Collaboration

Which expectations about caregiving need an explicit conversation when planning a family together?

Parents describe coordinating care outside a traditional romantic partnership and negotiating expectations about family roles.

Who was studied?

Five mothers and five fathers who entered elective coparenting arrangements.

Age / stage: Families with children

Read with three questions

1. How do participants distinguish friendship, shared values and traditional gender roles?
2. How did the researchers move from individual accounts to their interpretation?
3. How might the division of care in a different household affect how the findings apply?

Keep the limits in view

The accounts document experiences in the circumstances studied. They cannot establish how common an experience is in the wider population or measure an intervention effect.