Single-parenthood by choice: Children’s socialization processes into a non-conventional family model

Abstract

In this article we present part of our findings from a research project focused on single-parent families by choice. The study collected data in three autonomous communities in Spain and includes interviews with mothers involved in single parent-projects (through adoption, foster parenting, assisted reproductive technologies or sexual fertilization through a known donor) and their children about their family experiences, observations in different formative, associative and virtual spaces in which these families participate and a compilation of different documents on parenthood by choice. We focus on the way in which the children we have studied build their own non-conventional family model. We understand the construction of this model as a process of co-construction of the child's subjectivity in which mothers and other socializing agents play an active role.