A constituição da família adotiva na perspectiva de pais e mães homoparentais

Abstract

This dissertation addresses the family as a socially constructed category, situated historically and culturally, which plays a fundamental role throughout the individual's development process. It highlights the new family arrangements, especially the homoparental family, which has adoption as the main means for its formation. It presents and discusses the results found in a systematic literature review on this topic, based on three thematic categories: 1) “The (in)visibility of the homoparental family”; 2) “Prejudice against homoparenting”; and 3) “Parenting on the scene”. Its general objective is to analyze and comprehend the constitution of the adoptive homoparental family from the perspective of fathers and mothers in the adoption process. As specific objectives, it seeks to know and analyze the development of family relationships in these families; the family life history of these fathers and mothers; their experience in the adoption process and in the exercise of parenthood; and the relationship of the homoparental family with the extended family and society. This is a field, exploratory and cross-sectional research, approved by the Research Ethics Committee (CEP) of the Federal University of Alagoas. It adopts Donald Winnicott's psychoanalysis as a theoretical reference. It was conducted in a virtual environment and used case study as the research method. Fathers and mothers of four adoptive homoparental families from three regions of the country (NE, N, SE) participated. Data were collected from different sources, using the following instruments: a sociodemographic questionnaire, a semi-structured interview, and the Family Drawing with Stories Procedure (DF-S). As results, the sociodemographic data, the families' stories in case format, as well as the drawings and the stories produced are presented. The Thematic Content Analysis technique was used to analyze the data obtained in the interviews, from which four thematic categories were built and discussed: 1) "Previous family history", in which aspects of the fathers' and mothers' experiences with their families of origin were addressed; 2) "The parenthood project", in which the desire to exercise parenthood and its materialization through adoption was discussed; 3) "The homoparental family everyday life," in which the development of intra-family relationships established through adoption was addressed; and 4) "The homoparental family in society," in which the experiences of adoption with the extended family and in broader social relationships were discussed. The drawings and stories were analyzed using guiding questions, as recommended by Trinca. Based on the discussions, it was possible to identify potentialities in the development of intra-family relationships between participants and their children, but also crossings of situations of prejudice experienced with the family of origin, both in the parental exercise and in the support received by the extended family. The situations of prejudice were related to homosexuality, adoption, homoparenting and also single parenting. With regard to experiences in broader social relationships, the support received from friends and co-workers stands out. The participants also dealt with stigmas and prejudices in institutional spaces, such as at school, in health services, and by the technical team from the Judiciary. In conclusion, the homoparental adoptive families in the present study provided a facilitating environment in the emotional maturation process of their children.