Enfances, Familles, Générations (Nov 2015)
Les atermoiements du droit français dans la reconnaissance des familles formées par des couples de femmes
Abstract
For several years, French judges have been regularly asked by female same-sex couples to recognize the legitimacy of a “social” mother, as opposed to the legal mother (i.e., the woman who gave birth to the child). How do judges respond to these requests? The French law of May 17, 2013 allowing same-sex marriage also, as a consequence, allows a child to be adopted by the female spouse of the child’s mother. But even before this law passed, there was jurisprudence for the recognition of a quasi-status for “social mother,” both during the couple’s relationship and after it has ended. Now that same-sex families have been legally recognized in France for over a year, a status report of the situation is warranted.