Parenting Desires and Sexual Identities

: The paper asks how parenting desires are associated with the construction of sexual identity and what factors most influence whether gays/ lesbians, bisexuals, and heterosexuals declaring same-sex attraction want to have (more) children. The subject has been explored mainly in the Western liberal and gay-family-friendly legislation and social environment so far. Our study was conducted in the Czech Republic, a CEE country where sexual minorities face strong legal and social barriers to non-heterosexual parenthood. In an online survey (N = 882) conducted in 2019 among self-identified gay, les-bian, bisexual, and heterosexual people with same-sex attraction, we found a considerable gap in parenting desires by sexual identity. Parenting desires are weaker among homosexuals, especially men, while bisexuals are closer to het-erosexuals in their parenting desires. Our research suggests that in the context of discussions of parenthood Czech women are unwilling to identify as lesbi-ans and opt instead to claim a different sexual identity. Our findings indicate that the structural barriers to parenthood thus play a much more important role than the overall liberal-minded atmosphere in the Czech Republic.