Having children in cross-border contexts: late-family formation among homoparental families in Spain.

Considered until recently unfit to rear children, non-heterosexual people have been excluded from forming families in most countries. Many, worldwide, demand access to family formation, claiming the same aptitudes as heterosexual people for raising children. However, when non-heterosexual singles and couples want to become parents in Spain, they must consider transnational contexts, resorting to inter-country adoption or surrogacy abroad, processes that contribute to delay their family formation. They must consider not only Spanish sociocultural conditions, but other countries' legal restrictions regarding parents' gender, social status, and sexual identity. These families experience great difficulty in gaining access to reproductive health services. Based on multi-site ethnographic fieldwork, this text addresses how, despite legislative changes allowing homoparental family formation in Spain, these parents must overcome complex bureaucratic processes when they decide to have children, while facing homophobic attitudes and policies in their quests to become parents.

Having children in cross-border contexts: late-family formation among homoparental families in Spain / Ter filhos em contextos transfronteiriços: formação familiar tardia entre famílias homoparentais na Espanha

Abstract Considered until recently unfit to rear children, non-heterosexual people have been excluded from forming families in most countries. Many, worldwide, demand access to family formation, claiming the same aptitudes as heterosexual people for raising children. However, when non-heterosexual singles and couples want to become parents in Spain, they must consider transnational contexts, resorting to inter-country adoption or surrogacy abroad, processes that contribute to delay their family formation. They must consider not only Spanish sociocultural conditions, but other countries' legal restrictions regarding parents' gender, social status, and sexual identity. These families experience great difficulty in gaining access to reproductive health services. Based on multi-site ethnographic fieldwork, this text addresses how, despite legislative changes allowing homoparental family formation in Spain, these parents must overcome complex bureaucratic processes when they decide to have children, while facing homophobic attitudes and policies in their quests to become parents.

Resumo Até recentemente as pessoas não heterossexuais foram consideradas inadequadas para criar seus filhos, sendo excluídas da formação de famílias na maioria dos países. Em todo o mundo, estas pessoas exigem acesso à formação familiar, destacando as mesmas competências que as pessoas heterossexuais possuem para os criar seus filhos. No entanto, quando pessoas solteiras e casais não heterossexuais consideram tornar-se pais na Espanha, devem pensar em contextos transnacionais para ter filhos através da adoção ou sub-rogação em outros países, contribuindo para atrasar a sua parentalidade. Elas devem considerar não só as condições socioculturais da Espanha, mas também as dos países de destino em aspectos como gênero, classe social e orientação sexual. Estas famílias enfrentam grandes dificuldades no acesso aos serviços de saúde reprodutiva. Por meio de uma abordagem etnográfica multissituada, este artigo aborda como, apesar das alterações legislativas que permitem a formação de famílias homoparentais na Espanha, estes pais e mães devem superar complicados processos burocráticos e enfrentar atitudes e políticas de exclusão social quando decidem ter os seus filhos e filhas.