What are we talking about co-parenting? Divorced or separated parents, same-sex couple, step-parents… A multitude of situations lead two adults to raise a child. It is the relationship between a child and his two parents, apart from the marital relationship of the latter.

Appeared in Italy, this term of co-parenting is at the initiative of the Association of Separated Parents, to fight against the differences imposed on the custody of children during a separation. This term, which has since been adopted by France, defines the fact that two adults exercise the right to be the parent of their child, without necessarily living under the same roof or being married.

This term is used to distinguish the marital bond, which can be broken, from the parent-child bond which persists, despite parental conflicts. Parents’ associations have made it their flagship to fight against discrimination between the sexes, during divorces, and prevent child abductions with the use of influences aimed at manipulating the child. parental or Medea ”.

According to French law, “parental authority is a set of rights but also of duties. These rights and duties are ultimately in the interests of the child ”(article 371-1 of the Civil Code). “It is therefore always the best interests of the child that must govern, including co-parenting”.

Being recognized as the parent of a child determines rights and duties such as:

• custody of the child;
• the obligations to look after their needs;
• ensure his medical follow-up;
• his schooling;
• the right to take him on trips;
• to be responsible for his actions on a moral and legal level, as long as he is a minor;
• management of his assets until his majority.

According to the legal dictionary, co-parenting is quite simply “the name given to the joint exercise by the two parents of” theparental authority«.

The term co-parenting applies to two adults, whether in a couple or not, who are raising a child, both parties of whom feel responsible for this child, and who are recognized by the child himself as his parents.

They can be :

• his biological parents, regardless of their marital status;
• his biological parent and his new spouse;
• two adults of the same sex, linked by a civil partnership, marriage, adoption, surrogacy or medically assisted procreation, which determines the steps taken together to build a family.

According to the Civil Code, article 372, “fathers and mothers jointly exercise parental authority. However, the Civil Code provides for exceptions: the possibilities of forfeiture of parental authority and the delegation of this authority to third parties ”.

Marriage for all has allowed homosexual couples to be recognized by law as being legally recognized in the case of this co-parenting.

But French law imposes rules concerning both the conception of the child and parental authority, divorce or even adoption.

Depending on the legal framework in which the child was procreated or adopted, its custody and parental authority may be entrusted to a single person, to a homosexual couple, or to one of the biological parents in a relationship with a third party, etc. .

Parental authority is therefore not a matter of procreation, but of legal recognition. Surrogacy contracts signed abroad (because it is prohibited in France) have no legal power in France.

In France, assisted procreation is reserved for heterosexual parents. And only if there is infertility or risk of transmission of a serious disease to the child.

Several personalities, such as Marc-Olivier Fogiel, journalist, recounts the difficult journey linked to this recognition of parentage in his book: “What’s wrong with my family? “.

For the moment, this link legally established abroad following a surrogate mother agreement is in principle transcribed in the registers of the French civil status not only in that it designates the biological father but also the parent. of intention – father or mother.

However, as for the PMA, this position is only jurisprudential and apart from resorting to the adoption of the child of the spouse, there are for the moment no other alternatives to establish its bond of filiation.

For the moment, the French legal framework does not recognize any right to parenthood for step-parents, but certain cases may be exceptions:

• voluntary delegation: larticle 377 provides in fact: ” that the judge can decide the total or partial delegation of the exercise of parental authority to a “trustworthy relative” at the request of the fathers and mothers, acting together or separately “when the circumstances so require” ”. In other words, if one of the parents, in agreement with the child so requests, one of the parents can be deprived of his parental rights in favor of a third party;
• shared delegation: lhe Senate plans to allow the step-parent to “participate in the exercise of parental authority without either of the parents losing their prerogatives. However, the express consent of the latter remains necessary ”;
• adoption: whether full or simple, this adoption process is carried out to transform the relationship of step-parent to that of parent. This approach includes the notion of filiation that the step-parent will pass on to the child.