Abstract:
The division of legal powers in Quebec (Canada) makes the legislative framework very specific in this province. Marriage is part of a federal jurisdiction while filiation follows the provincial regulations. This paper follow the afterwords of the experience of gay families members of an organization which worked in the production of the legal context that allowed Quebec province to implement a law regulating the civil union of homosexual couples, conceding dual maternal and paternal affiliation for adopted children in 2002. In 2009, Quebec was the first Canadian province to ensure free access to assisted reproduction procedures, also including gay couples. This context, the result of an intense debate, is perceived by my interlocutors as a place of equality. The aim of this paper is to analyze the choices and particularities of the experience of motherhood and filiation for gay couples in Quebec. I question how the association’s members experience daily life and the challenges to raise families built with the help of a donor and prepare for a possible desire of the children to know more about the donor. Could this curiosity differentiate the meaning of motherhood and homoparental family? The negotiation of role and place of the gamete donor’s in the family is being challenged through what I call “hypothetical search” of origins.
Keywords:
Kinship; Homoparental families; Quebec; Motherhood; Identity