Susan Golombok

Professor of Family Research, Director of the Centre for Family Research, and Professorial Fellow at Newnham College, University of Cambridge, UK

About the author:

My research examines the impact of new family forms on parenting and child development, specifically lesbian mother families, gay father families, transgender parent families, single mothers by choice, and families created by assisted reproductive technologies including in vitro fertilisation (IVF), donor insemination, egg donation and surrogacy. My work demonstrates that who is in the family – the number, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation and biological relatedness of parents – is less important for children’s psychological wellbeing than the quality of family relationships.

What I want to achieve:

I would like the research to change people’s minds about new family forms so that their attitudes are based on evidence rather than prejudice and assumption.

Awards & accomplishments:

  • Fellow of the British Academy.