Abstract

This study aimed to understand how the construction of the parental role in homosexual couples adopting is, considering the unique context of adoption and their psychological, social and legal implications. This is a descriptive, exploratory study, which involved two adults being in a homo-affective union and legally who adopted a child. Semi-structured interviews with a script addressing the desire to have children, and the legal procedures of adoption and of the transition to the parenthood were conducted. The data were subjected to thematic analysis, guided by the research question: the assumption of the parental role. The following topics emerged: taking the decision to adopt; weaving narratives of adoption; learning to exercise parental roles; and organizing the domestic routine. The results point to a more egalitarian definition of parental roles in homo-affective families. The construction of these roles, still suffering cultural influence, is a creative elaboration of the marital dyad and the family. We conclude that parental roles tend to be incorporated and exercised in peculiar ways by homo-affective families formed through adoption.

Homosexuality; Adoption (Child); Parental Role; Father Child Relations