̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge - Susan Imrie

Stigma of broken family relationships compounded by lockdown

jg533 — Thu, 18 Jun 2020 05:00:54 +0000

̽��ֱ��report, by researchers at the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge, Edge Hill ̽��ֱ�� and the UK-based charity Stand Alone, brings together over 800 responses to a survey sent out to the charity’s UK community. ̽��ֱ��survey asked individuals about the experience of being estranged from family during the current crisis, and how it has impacted them and their family relationships. Over half of the respondents said they felt more isolated now than they had before lockdown.

During the pandemic many estranged people have become more conscious of not having family to support them, for example to help with grocery shopping while they can’t go to the supermarket themselves. For some it has brought the realisation that their well-being is not important to other family members, and compounded the feeling of being unloved and uncared for.

78% of respondents had maintained the same level of non-contact with their estranged family member during lockdown, and 6% had experienced even less contact. One respondent said they hadn’t spoken to another person for over two months.

“There’s a lot of stigma around estrangement, and people in this situation have experienced it in a heightened way during lockdown. Many have become more aware that they have smaller support networks than others,” said Dr Susan Imrie at the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge’s Centre for Family Research, who was involved in the study.

̽��ֱ��researchers say the importance of family relationships has been highlighted repeatedly throughout lockdown in television advertising, news headlines and social media. But for those who were already estranged from family, the pandemic and the messages surrounding it have compounded feelings of stigma and social isolation.

“Since lockdown began there has been a lot of talk about what family members should be doing to support each other at this time of crisis. We’ve all been encouraged to keep in touch with relatives through Skype and FaceTime. But this has really compounded feelings of isolation for those who don’t have close family relationships,” said Dr Sarah Foley at the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge’s Centre for Family Research, who was also involved in the study.

It is estimated that over five million people in the UK are estranged from a family member, but despite being so common it is not something that is widely known about or discussed.

“Despite the assumption that family members will be a source of support during the COVID-19 crisis, this is not always the case. One in five families across the UK have no contact with an estranged family member, and this new report finds that very little has changed for them during the pandemic,” said Dr Becca Bland, CEO of Stand Alone.

Stand Alone supports people who have more challenging experiences of family, and who are estranged from their entire family or a key family member. ̽��ֱ��reasons behind estrangement in the community are varied: some are surviving abuse and neglect, others have been distanced for coming out as LGBT+ or for rejecting cultural, religious and political values. It is the only charity in the UK that works to support people who are estranged from family members.

̽��ֱ��results of this study will help Stand Alone understand how best to target support during the pandemic. ̽��ֱ��researchers also hope it will raise awareness of family estrangement so that it can be handled more sensitively as lockdown continues.

̽��ֱ��researchers say it is difficult to know the extent to which the survey respondents reflect the level of estrangement from family across the UK population as a whole.

A minority of the survey respondents who were estranged from family said they actually felt more connected during lockdown because everyone else was suddenly unable to see their family too. They hoped this might help others understand their situation better.

“Different people are being affected differently by the lockdown. Advice about coping shouldn’t assume that everyone has family relationships that are close and loving. Even subtle changes in the language used could have a really positive effect on people’s experiences,” said Dr Lucy Blake, Senior Lecturer in Children, Young People and Families at Edge Hill ̽��ֱ��, who was also involved in the study.

Reference
Family Estrangement and the COVID-19 Crisis: A closer look at how broken family relationships have been impacted by the COVID-19 crisis. Report by Dr Lucy Blake (Edge Hill ̽��ֱ��), Dr Becca Bland (Stand Alone), Dr Sarah Foley and Dr Susan Imrie (Centre for Family Research, ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge).

Lockdown restrictions have not brought estranged family members closer together, and recent focus on the importance of family support has made dealing with the pandemic even more difficult for those with challenging family situations, a new study published today has found.

Pixabay

Woman at home alone

̽��ֱ��text in this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Images, including our videos, are Copyright © ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge and licensors/contributors as identified. All rights reserved. We make our image and video content available in a number of ways – as here, on our main website under its Terms and conditions, and on a range of channels including social media that permit your use and sharing of our content under their respective Terms.

Yes

Family bonds: how does surrogacy impact on relationships?

amb206 — Mon, 08 Jul 2013 11:00:00 +0000

When a woman becomes a surrogate to enable others to have a baby, new relationships are formed. Research carried out by the Centre of Family Research, ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge, suggests that many of these relationships flourish. ̽��ֱ��research will be presented today at the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology (ESHRE) conference in London.

Surrogacy, the process whereby a woman carries and gives birth to a baby for an infertile couple, has become a more widely-accepted way of building a family, helped in part by media coverage of its use by high-profile celebrities. Commercially arranged surrogacy is illegal in the UK and many surrogates, most of whom have children of their own, are motivated by the desire to help others have a family.

To date there has been limited research into the long-term impact of surrogacy on the adults and children involved in the process, but now a study at the Centre for Family Research is looking at whether, and how, surrogacy affects family relationships.

Today Dr Vasanti Jadva and PhD candidate Susan Imrie of the Centre for Family Research will present findings from a two-year ESRC-funded research project which looks at the experiences of surrogacy from a range of perspectives including that of the partners and children of surrogates as well as surrogates themselves.

̽��ֱ��research is based on in-depth interviews with 34 surrogates, 36 children of surrogates and 11 partners of surrogates. Twenty of the surrogates had been interviewed by Dr Jadva more than ten years ago in a previous project which looked at the psychological wellbeing and experiences of surrogates one year after the birth of the surrogacy child. ̽��ֱ��participation of these women allowed the researchers to track relationships over time, adding a valuable dimension to the study.

̽��ֱ��findings paint a largely positive picture of the relationships between the surrogate and her own family, and between these individuals and the families created through surrogacy.

“Our research shows that in the majority of cases, relationships formed as a result of surrogacy are valued and enjoyed by surrogates and sustained over time,” said Dr Jadva. ̽��ֱ��study found that surrogates stayed in touch with the majority of the surrogacy children (77 per cent) and with most of the parents (85 per cent of mothers, 76 per cent of fathers). Of the surrogates who had chosen to maintain contact with the surrogacy families, most would meet in person once or twice a year.

Most of the surrogates’ own children (86 per cent) had a positive view of their mothers’ involvement in surrogacy. Almost half (47 per cent) were in contact with the surrogacy child all of whom reported a good relationship with him or her. A significant number of surrogates’ children referred to the child as a sibling or a half sibling.

There are two types of surrogacy practised in the UK: gestational surrogacy, also known as host surrogacy, in which the surrogate gestates the couple’s embryo (or an embryo created using a donor egg) and becomes pregnant through IVF; and genetic surrogacy, also known as traditional surrogacy, in which the surrogate uses her own egg and is thus the genetic mother of the child.

Interestingly, the type of surrogacy did not affect how the surrogacy child was viewed by the surrogates’ own children and did not appear to have a bearing on whether the experience was seen as positive or negative by those involved.

Susan Imrie said: “It is clear that the children of surrogate mothers do not experience any negative consequences as a result of their mother’s decision to be a surrogate and that this was irrespective of whether or not the surrogate used her own egg. In fact, most of the children we spoke to were supportive of their mother being a surrogate and were proud of what she’d achieved.”

Surrogacy offers a means of having children to a growing number of couples experiencing fertility problems or unable to conceive. ̽��ֱ��practice is legal in the UK on an altruistic and non-commercial basis, and surrogacy arrangements are non-enforceable in law. ̽��ֱ��surrogate is the legal mother of the child until legal parentage is transferred to the intended parents through a Parental Order which can be applied for between six weeks and six months after the birth. Since 2010 it has been possible for same-sex couples in the UK to use surrogacy as a means of parenthood. Although no accurate figures are available on the number of surrogacies carried out in the UK, it is estimated that numbers are increasing.

Dr Vasanti Jadva will be presenting her paper ‘Children of surrogate mothers: psychological wellbeing, family relationships and experiences of surrogacy’ at the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology (ESHRE) on Monday, 8 July. Susan Imrie’s poster is titled ‘Surrogate mothers: contact and relationships with families created through surrogacy’.

For more information about this story contact Alex Buxton, Office of Communications, ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge, amb206@admin.cam.ac.uk 01223 761673.

Preliminary results from a pioneering study at Cambridge ̽��ֱ�� paint a positive picture of the relationships formed between surrogates and the families they help to create.

Our research shows that, in the majority of cases, relationships formed as a result of surrogacy are valued and enjoyed by surrogates and sustained over time.

Vasanti Jadva

photo_gratis (Flickr Creative Commons)

family outing

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Licence. If you use this content on your site please link back to this page.

Yes