Evolution of the Family in France. From the Appearance of Family Pluralism to the Question of Pluri-parentality

The first objective of this article consists of describing the evolution of the family in France, from the 1950s to the present, starting with classic socio-demographic indicators. After pointing out that the passage from a single model of family life to what can be called a certain kind of family pluralism, and having clarified its causes and consequences, the author highlights the "strengths" and "weaknesses" of the contemporary family in France. After proving that this evolution favored the development of families in which one or two adults who educate the children are not their progenitors (adoptive families, combined families, families that recur to medical assistance for procreation with donors and homo-parental families), the study addresses the question of pluri-parentality, currently under debate in France, as in a great number of other countries. Can one child in effect have various "fathers" and "mothers"? Returning once more to the specificity of our occidental affiliation system, the author explains why our societies are not predisposed to recognize these parallel relationships and are therefore denying an emergent social reality, although in the French case, some timid signs of opening are perceived.