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31 Int'l J.L. Pol. & Fam. 328 (2017)
How Should We Name the Parents: The Challenges of plus-Two-Parent Families for Legal Kinship Terminology

handle is hein.journals/intlpf31 and id is 336 raw text is: International Journal of Law, Policy and The Family, 2017, 31, 328-343 doi: 10.1093/lawfam/ebx009 Advance Access Publication Date: 18 September 2017 Article How Should We Name the Parents? The Challenges of Plus-Two-Parent Families for Legal Kinship Terminology Nola Cammu* *Research Group: Personal Rights and Property Rights, University of Antwerp, Belgium. E-mail: nola.cammuguantwerpen.be ABSTRACT This article considers what changes can be made within the legal arena to better ac- commodate those who find themselves outside of the normative framework of the sex- ual (two-parent) family. Using legal kinship terminology (ie those terms used to define parental figures such as 'father', 'mother', 'co-mother', 'co-/duo-mother' and 'donor') within Belgian and Dutch legal documents as case studies, I will focus both on situ- ations of intentional multiple parenthood (eg co-parenting projects), as well as parent- ing situations following artificial reproductive technology (ART). I posit the possibility of an existing tension between, on one hand, the available terminology in situations of plus-two-parent families, and on the other, the authority of prevailing kinship termin- ology as primarily focused around a two-parent-nuclear-construct. Moreover, I will il- lustrate how the labelling processes of both kinning ('co-/duo-) mother', father') and non-kinning ('surrogacy mother', 'donor') limit the language surrounding practices of multiple parenthood from the outset. I conclude by positing three possible future paths and emphasize the need for additional (empirical) research findings. I. INTRODUCTION Who are the 'parents' of a child? In general terms, this would be the mother and father. In this article, I will assess whether the legal terminology surrounding the par- ental heterosexual dyad is sufficient when there are more than two parents. The ascription of parenthood to one mother and one father has been challenged by re- cent medical and societal evolutions, such as ART (artificial reproductive technol- ogy) practices. Belgian and Dutch legislatures have to a certain extent amended their Civil Codes in accordance with these evolutions. A shift towards the recognition of same-sex parenting settings, as well as a legal framework provided for children con- ceived through ART, have inspired a 'new' collection of legal vocabulary for parents. This new vocabulary will be the subject of this article. One of family law's primary functions is to define and categorize the actors com- prising a family; for example, who can be understood as a father or a mother (Huntington, 2013: 619). Through legal terminology, family law is able to name and distinguish these categories, rendering it possible to attach a legal meaning to them. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com . 328

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