The French law authorising same-sex marriages, enacted in 2013, also allows same-sex married couples to adopt children. However, due to the currently low number of minor children to adopt in France, couples who want to become parents often go abroad to engage in Assisted Reproductive Technologies (ART). Yet, even when children are conceived with ART, the legislation regulating filiation requires couples to be married so that the non-biological partner can be legally acknowledged as a parent. Based upon a qualitative survey of men and women married to a same-sex partner in France between 2014 and 2017, this article analyses the effect of this legislation on the formation of same-sex families. It more specifically looks into the administrative constraints they face within institutions, the adoption process being very costly and time-consuming. Finally, this article identifies gaps in the access to parenthood as a consequence of gender inequalities, both in the access to ART and in the general representations of motherhood and fatherhood.
- marriage
- couple
- family
- homosexuality
- law
- institutions