Published online by Cambridge University Press: 21 November 2019
In this last jurisprudential chapter, the Court’s understanding of fatherhood is tested in what is possibly the most challenging domain: that of homosexuality. Historically, fatherhood and, more generally, parenthood have been inextricably linked to heterosexuality and heteronormativity. Apart from constituting a conventional feature of fatherhood itself, heterosexuality often represents a prerequisite for the existence of other conventional characteristics. As such, the image of homosexual men becoming fathers calls into question basic traditional assumptions about family life, gender and sexuality and, more specifically, departs from the conventional paradigm of fatherhood at multiple levels. First, despite the trend of providing some form of legal recognition to same-sex relationships mainly through civil partnership, the institution of marriage and, most importantly, the rights and benefits associated to it – for instance, adoption rights or access to ARTs – remain mostly reserved for heterosexual couples.
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