TABLE 1.
Sociodemographic characteristics of the study groups.
| Variable | Heterosexual fathers (n = 78) | Gay fathers through a heterosexual relationship (n = 76) | Gay fathers through Surrogacy (n = 63) | Difference test |
| Age (range) | 29–66 | 39–78 | 30–56 |
F(2,212) = 169.37***, η2 = 0.615 |
| M | 38.99a | 58.17b | 39.11a | |
| SD | 7.90 | 7.79 | 5.56 | |
| Place of birth (%) | χ2(2) = 12.06**, Cramer’s V = 0.235 |
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| (0) Israel | 92.3 | 79.5 | 96.8 | |
| (1) Other | 7.7 | 20.5 | 3.2 | |
| Education level (%) | F(2,216) = 0.46, η2 = 0.004 | |||
| (1) Elementary or no education | 1.3 | 1.3 | 0 | |
| (2) Partial high school | 0 | 5.1 | 1.6 | |
| (3) Full high school | 5.1 | 3.8 | 9.5 | |
| (4) Higher education | 5.1 | 3.8 | 3.2 | |
| (5) Academic education | 88.5 | 85.9 | 85.7 | |
| M | 4.79 | 4.68 | 4.73 | |
| SD | 0.65 | 0.86 | 0.70 | |
| Self-rated economic status (%) | F(2,216) = 8.33***, η2 = 0.072 | |||
| (1) Low | 2.6 | 1.3 | 0 | |
| (2) Below average | 0 | 6.4 | 1.6 | |
| (3) Average | 32.1 | 47.4 | 22.2 | |
| (4) Above average | 46.2 | 35.9 | 52.4 | |
| (5) High | 19.2 | 9.0 | 23.8 | |
| M | 3.79a | 3.45b | 3.98a | |
| SD | 0.84 | 0.80 | 0.72 | |
| Self-rated health (%) | F(2,214) = 4.20*, η2 = 0.038 | |||
| (1) Bad | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| (2) Not so good | 0 | 2.6 | 0 | |
| (3) Fair | 5.1 | 16.9 | 3.2 | |
| (4) Good | 46.2 | 41.6 | 48.4 | |
| (5) Very good | 48.7 | 39.0 | 48.4 | |
| M | 4.44a | 4.17b | 4.45a | |
| SD | 0.59 | 0.80 | 0.56 | |
| Self-rated religiousness (%) | χ2(2) = 7.75*, Cramer’s V = 0.188 |
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| (0) Secular | 84.6 | 87.2 | 98.4 | |
| (1) Other | 15.4 | 12.8 | 1.6 | |
| Family religion (%) | χ2(2) = 1.15, Cramer’s V = 0.073 |
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| (0) Jewish | 98.7 | 100 | 98.4 | |
| (1) Other | 1.3 | 0 | 1.6 | |
| Children at home (%) | χ2(2) = 128.07***, Cramer’s V = 0.770 | |||
| (0) No | 8.0 | 78.2 | 0 | |
| (1) Yes | 92.0 | 21.8 | 100 | |
| Place of residence (%) | χ2(2) = 2.25, Cramer’s V = 0.101 |
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| (0) City | 78.2 | 84.6 | 87.3 | |
| (1) Rural | 21.8 | 15.4 | 12.7 | |
| Relationship status (%) | χ2(2) = 20.39***, Cramer’s V = 0.305 |
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| (0) Not in relationship | 19.2 | 46.2 | 15.9 | |
| (1) In relationship | 80.8 | 53.8 | 84.1 | |
| Number of children (range) | 1–6 | 1–8 | 1–3 |
F(2,216) = 26.15***, η2 = 0.195 |
| M | 1.87a | 2.79b | 1.71a | |
| SD | 0.92 | 1.25 | 0.60 | |
| Children’s age1 (range) | 0.08–31.5 | 9–47 | 1–17 |
F(2,215) = 341.98***, η2 = 0.761 |
| M | 5.86a | 28.29b | 2.29c | |
| SD | 7.19 | 7.95 | 2.49 |
The ANOVA tests regarding age, education level, self-rated economic status, self-rated health, number of children, and children’s age compared the respective mean ratings of the three study groups. Significant pairwise comparisons are noted by different superscripts within each sociodemographic variable (according to Bonferroni post hoc tests, p < 0.05). 1Calculated as the mean age of each participant’s children. * p < 0.05, ** p < 0.01, *** p < 0.001.