Elective co-parenting, where parents who are not in a romantic relationship with each other decide to conceive and raise a child together is on the rise, partly facilitated by online connection sites and apps designed to help people search for parenting partners. This mixed methods study aimed to increase our understanding of family functioning and child adjustment in elective co-parenting families using interviews and standardised psychological questionnaires. The study found that parents typically report good mental health and supportive co‑parenting relationships, and children show healthy emotional and behavioural development. Importantly, it does not make a difference whether co‑parents already knew each other or met through an online co‑parenting platform: outcomes for parents and children were similar in both cases. The studies also highlight that while these families thrive, parents may still face social misunderstandings and legal uncertainties. Overall, the findings suggest that children do well when relationships are planned, cooperative and supportive.

Selected publications can be found below:

Bower-Brown, S., Foley, S., & Jadva, V. (2025). “The three musketeers”: A triadic analysis of parenting responsibilities within U.K. LGBTQ+ three-parent families. Journal of Family Psychology, 39(4), 418–428. https://doi.org/10.1037/fam0001307

Foley, S., Jadva, V., & Golombok, S. (2025). Elective co-parenting with someone already known versus someone met online: implications for parent and child psychological functioning. Reproductive biomedicine online, 50(5), 104747.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rbmo.2024.104747

Bower-Brown, S., Foley, S., Jadva, V., & Golombok, S. (2024). Grappling with tradition: the experiences of cisgender, heterosexual mothers and fathers in elective co-parenting arrangements. Journal of Family Studies, 30(1), 82–103. https://doi.org/10.1080/13229400.2023.2209060