Same-sex parenting in Brazil and Portugal: An integrative review

This integrative review aimed to analyze and systematize the knowledge produced on parenting by same-sex couples in the Brazilian and Portuguese contexts until 2019. We sought to describe the main topics in scientific production in empirical articles in both countries and highlight advances and/or gaps in the discussions. The databases searched were LILACS, Redalyc, RCAAP, PePSIC, SciELO and EBSCOhost. The searches occurred in 2020, with seven descriptors in Portuguese and their respective translations into English, resulting in 17 different search combinations. Fifty-three articles were retrieved: 35 Brazilian, 17 Portuguese and 1 Luso-Brazilian. We observed standards in the scientific production on the theme and analyzed the material qualitatively through Thematic Analysis. All the articles surveyed presented a cross-sectional design, with a prevalence of qualitative studies in Brazil and quantitative studies in Portugal. It was verified, in both countries, the desire, the achievement and the experience of parenting, the challenges faced by families and the parental practices exercised with the children. Low social support and coping with prejudice related to LGB-phobia were identified. Although the conceptions about parenting exercised by same-sex couples and its benefits for child development have been positive for a significant portion of the Brazilian and Portuguese population, negative opinions were present in both countries, especially among older, male, religious and more conservative people. We highlight the need to expand the discussion on family and diversity in society, academia, and the training and updating of social network professionals.


Introduction
The first context in which human development occurs is the family context. It is in the family that parenting is expected to be built, which involves the development of a relationship between the adult who demonstrates intentionality of care for a child/adolescent (Pêssoa & Rosa, 2018). A contemporary conception of the family considers it the result of historical, cultural and social construction, presenting itself differently and concerning different subsystems (Matos et al., 2019). Thus, the contexts in which parenting occurs are essential for the outcome of the development of adults and children.
The macrosystem, a broader social context, which includes, among other aspects, culture and ideology, contributes to the understanding of how development occurs concerning the environments, both the historical and the ones in which people are inserted during their life course (Bronfenbrenner, 2005;Tudge et al., 2016). This scenario involves factors influencing behaviors and viewpoints about reality (Tudge et al., 2016), such as how the family is defined and constituted and who its members are. Thus, the macrosystem also orchestrates prejudices and stigmas about what is not indicated in social norms, as in the same-sex parenting family constitution. Considering that the macrosystem has repercussions on families and parenting exercises, this study aimed to investigate what the scientific literature has produced on same-sex parenting issues in two different contexts, Brazilian and Portuguese families.
In the history of Brazil and Portugal, we find shared macrosystemic elements. Concomitantly with contemporary discussions on different family configurations, a preconceived notion of the family persists in both countries, aligned to a nuclear, traditional, heterosexual model associated with marriage and where the genders have very distinct and defined roles (Baranoski, 2016;Lira et al., 2016a;Ramos, 2016). Based on this understanding, other family models that do not correspond to the traditional nuclear model cope with silencing and prejudice (Baranoski, 2016;Gato & Fontaine, 2016;Lira et al., 2016b;Pêssoa & Rosa, 2018). In this sense, although a traditional view on family formation still has a prevalence in society, social changes are happening and demanding a new understanding of what families are since different family compositions make up the world scenario and gain increased visibility in the social, legal, cultural, and scientific fields (Baranoski, 2016).
The historical fight for sexual and reproductive citizenship of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people, and other gender and sexuality (LGBTQ+) designations in the legal sphere, aiming at the recognition of their marital relationships and, consequently, the guarantee of the rights that marriage offers, as well as the achievement of the desire for parenting through adoption or reproductive techniques, highlights the search for visibility and resistance movement of sexual minorities (Lira et al., 2016b;Santos, 2018a). The term same-sex parenting originated in this context in France and occurred at the end of the 20th century. The Association des Parents et Futurs Parents Gays e Lesbiens coined it to welcome people with a lesbian, gay or bisexual (LGB) sexual orientation who had the desire to exercise parenting and achieve visibility for these families (Machin, 2016;Santos et al., 2018). Although its use is questioned by referring parenting to the sexual orientation of fathers/mothers, it demonstrates representativeness by highlighting dual-maternity/paternity families, contrasting the traditional family model, in which gender roles are predefined (Pontes et al. al., 2017). Furthermore, same-sex parenting shows a family organization still much criticized by common social sense (Lira et al., 2016b).
In Portugal, in 2001, the recognition of de facto unions was established, and in 2010, the legalization of marriage for same-gender couples (ILGA World, 2020), although the legislation had clauses that prohibited couples from entering adoption proceedings or seeking assisted reproduction treatment . Through the debate on the legalization of same-sex parenting over the years, legal changes were approved in February 2016 that granted the right to adoption by samegender couples and, in December of the same year, the right to medically assisted reproduction by single or married women (Santos, 2018a).
In Brazil, in 2011, the stable union between same-sex couples was recognized as a family entity. With resolution No.
175 promulgated by the National Council of Justice (Conselho Nacional de Justiça [CNJ]) in 2013, it was made mandatory for national registry offices to celebrate civil marriages of these families and to grant stable unions in marriage (ILGA World, 2020). Through the changes that occurred in the national scenario regarding what is conferred as a family entity, the Federal Council of Medicine (Conselho Federal de Medicina), in resolution No. 2.013/13, included the families of same-sex couples in the publication about the standards and techniques for the use of assisted reproduction (Pontes et al., 2015). On the other hand, the laws on adoption do not mention sexual orientation or the applicants´ marital status, which means that homosexual couples are in line with heterosexual couples in the adoption process (Ximenes & Scorsolini-Comin, 2018).
Despite this observation, same-sex parent families experience a historic moment worldwide (Lira et al., 2016b), particularly in the West. Thus, in Brazil and Portugal, these families encounter a scenario of legal changes that aim to guarantee and protect their rights and those of their children as a family from this family arrangement.
In scientific terms, research on same-sex parenting families began in the 1970s , mainly covering topics such as reproductive techniques used by lesbians, and post-divorce situations of heterosexual families with children, in which one of the guardians started a relationship with another person of the same sex, and therefore resulted in a fight for child custody. Therefore, work in this area has focused on child development and parenting competence in these families, with the traditional nuclear families as an initial reference (Golombok, 2015). After this period, other works were conducted, and several paradigms were already broken. However, although there is an extensive investigation on same-sex parenting families internationally, scientific production in Brazil and Portugal is recent and still reduced (Costa, Tasker et al., 2019;Lira & Morais, 2016).
Given the above, this article aimed to analyze and systematize the knowledge produced on same-sex parenting in the Brazilian and Portuguese context until the year 2019, from an integrative review of the literature, highlighting advances and/or gaps present in the discussions on the theme, and describe the main topics covered on the subject in empirical articles produced in both countries.

Methodology
The integrative review is a rigorous research methodology drawn from pre-established and systematized search criteria to locate primary studies of different methods on the investigated phenomenon, integrate and critically and analytically organize the data, deepening knowledge (Soares et al., 2014). Thus, this review started by outlining the central question about Research, Society andDevelopment, v. 11, n. 16, e357111638227, 2022 (CC BY 4.0) | ISSN 2525-3409 | DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.33448/rsd-v11i16.38227 4 the phenomenon it proposes to investigate: What has been discussed in the existing scientific production on parenting exercised by same-sex couples in the Brazilian and Portuguese contexts until 2019?
The methodological proposal guided by Mendes et al. (2008), based on the six stages of the integrative literature review, was used as a guideline: 1) Identification of the theme and research question; 2) Establishment of inclusion/exclusion criteria for studies; 3) Definition of the information that will be extracted from the studies; 4) Evaluation of included studies; 5) Interpretation of results; 6) Review/synthesis presentation. For the methodological systematization involving the performance and description of the integrative literature review, the study was conducted and organized using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Protocols (PRISMA Protocol) (Moher et al., 2009). This material, produced by a group of researchers, proposes a checklist with 27 items distributed throughout the body of the work and a flowchart to indicate the processes undertaken in the search for the articles selected in the systematic review. Since this is an integrative review, some adaptations in using the checklist were necessary, an adaptation provided by the PRISMA Group in specific circumstances (Moher et al. 2019).

Databases and Keywords
We consulted the following databases: LILACS; Redalyc; RCAAP; PePSIC; SciELO and EBSCOhost. A previous reading of the scientific literature on the phenomenon selected the descriptors to ensure higher coverage among the retrieved documents on the theme. The research by Lira and Morais (2016) was an essential reference, and we adapted the descriptors used by the authors for the present research. Thus, we used the following descriptors in Portuguese and English in different combinations: ("homoparentalidade" OR "mães lésbicas" OR "pais gays") AND ("famílias" OR "parentalidade" OR "maternidade" OR "paternidade"), and their respective translations into English: ("homopareting" OR "homoparenthood" OR "lesbian and gay parenting" OR "same-sex parenting" OR "lesbian mothers" OR "gay fathers") AND "families" OR "parenting" OR "motherhood" OR "fatherhood".

Inclusion and Exclusion Criteria
Article selection criteria: scientific articles published in journals, resulting from empirical research; written in Portuguese, English or Spanish; available online in the full version; dealing with the issue of same-sex parenting in the Brazilian and Portuguese context until 2019. Exclusion criteria: review articles; duplicate articles recovered by search; book chapters, dissertation or thesis, and other documents retrieved in the research. An initial period of publication wasn't established as a criterion, since it was intended to know all the scientific material produced on the subject until the year 2019, the decade in which civil and/or legal milestones were reached on the rights of LGB families in both investigated countries.
Two previously prepared researchers were responsible for independently searching, selecting and coding scientific articles (Soares et al., 2014), except for the EBSCOhost database, to which only one of the researchers had access. The searches were conducted between March/April 2020, and they were expanded between October/November of the same year, adding EBSCOhost and the English language descriptors in all investigated databases. Figure 1 shows the distribution found in the databases. Source: Author's production.
Initially, six hundred eight documents were retrieved using the descriptors in Portuguese and 2,733 in English, totaling 3,341. After removing the duplicate documents, 1,325 documents were tracked. Of these, 1,259 documents were excluded because they did not meet the study's inclusion criteria. A total of 66 articles were selected for a full reading. After the first assessment, the researchers met together in the second moment of the conference in which a third researcher, also the author of the article, assisted in the decision-making process of material selection, and 13 papers were eliminated for being unavailable online or not corresponding to the central question of the study, reaching 53 articles included in the sample. The selected articles are presented in order of publication year, in Table 1 LGB participants in the sample, it was part of the General Population analysis. Source: Author's production.
In the table shown, the authors, the scientific journals in which the articles were published, and whether the focus of the study was on understanding the processes experienced by LGB people and families or on the conceptions of other populations about parenting by couples of the same gender were highlighted. Also, the size of the samples were specified.

Data Analysis
In the analysis of the quantitative profile of the scientific production on the issue, the following were identified: the number of articles published per year in Brazil and Portugal; the design and method of research analysis; the used instruments; the choice of participants; and finally, the main characteristics investigated on the theme. The qualitative analysis of the material collected was conducted using the Thematic Analysis framework, proposed by Braun and Clarke (2019). An exhaustive reading of the selected material was performed to encode characteristics relevant to the research objective and subsequent grouping of the codes into thematic axes. Finally, a new reading to refine the features of each theme was undertaken, grouping them into thematic groups that synthesized the meaning of the set of results obtained, clearly naming each thematic category (Braun & Clarke, 2019). The first thematic axis organized extracts on the Conceptions of other groups on aspects involving same-sex parenting, organized into two subthemes: Conceptions of other groups on same-sex parenting; and Conceptions of other groups on child development in the same-sex parenting family. The second thematic axis brought together extracts on the Experiences of LGB families, with and without children, organized into five sub-themes: Desire/project, and chosen path to achieve parenting; Experiences associated with parenting in LGB families with children;

Importance of legal aspects; Relationship of families with different contexts: Support x Prejudice; Coping modes. The results
will be discussed below.

Quantitative profile of scientific productions
The All the articles surveyed (n = 53) presented a cross-sectional design, with most qualitative studies in Brazil (n = 28) and quantitative in Portugal (n = 12), reflecting the instruments used primarily for data collection in the two countries: in the former, the interview (n = 25), and in the latter, the questionnaire (n = 12). In Brazil, the following instruments were also mentioned in data collection: questionnaire (n = 7); family design (n = 4), participant observation (n = 3), field diary (n = 3), playful session (n = 1), life history technique (n = 1), photo album (n = 1), story presented in a children's group (n = 1), and ethnography (n = 1). In Portugal, the following were also mentioned: the interview (n = 4) and the focus group (n = 1). Only one article of Brazilian origin presented a quali-quanti publication, which gathered the application of a questionnaire, interview and participant observation in data collection.
Regarding the population investigated in the publications, there was a common occurrence of studies in Brazil with same-sex couples, with or without children, and with children belonging to families with LGB mothers/fathers (n = 26), followed by studies with judiciary/health/school professionals (n = 6), university students (n = 3), the general population (n = 2), and children residing in a foster care institution (n = 1). In Portugal, studies with university participants (n = 7) and with the general population (n = 4) prevailed, followed by studies in which participants were gay/lesbian people and/or with same-sex couples with children (n = 4), and finally, judiciary/health professionals (n = 2). The only Luso-Brazilian study in the sample was conducted with the general population in both countries.
In Portugal, the central focus of the studies involved the understanding of conceptions of other groups about parenting exercised by same-sex couples (n = 9), the development of children in a same-sex parent home (n = 1) and adoptive same-sex parenting (n = 3), a theme that also corresponded to the objective of the Luso-Brazilian article in the sample. Other central themes were the professional assessment of the social network on LGB parenting (n = 2), the desire/project of parenting (n = 1), the experience of parenting (n = 2) and adoptive parenting (n = 1), and the experience of parenting and formal and informal network (n = 1). In Brazil, the most discussed central issues involved the experience of parenting by same-sex couples, with the following topics: desire/project of parenting (n = 5), experience of parenting (n = 11), adoptive parenting (n = 2), nonpregnant mother parenting (n = 1) and co-parenting (n = 2). The relationship with different contexts was evidenced, such as the experience of parenting and the formal and informal social network (n = 2), the family-school relationship (n = 1), as well as the recognition of prejudice (n = 4). Conceptions about parenting exercised by same-sex couples (n = 1), adoptive same-sex parenting (n = 4), and the relation between values/motivation to respond without prejudice to same-sex parenting (n = 1) were also addressed in the Brazilian context, as well as the assessment of social network professionals on LGB parenting (n = 6).
Some selected studies focused on the participants' conceptions of the family (n = 5) and conjugality (n = 3). It is inferred that the macrosystemic differences between the two countries collaborate in these variations found in scientific production. Both the impact on the legalization of adoption and assisted reproduction treatments, added to the different geographic and population dimensions, offer the opportunity to access more LGB families with children in Brazil than in Portugal.

Axis 1-Conceptions of other groups on aspects involving same-sex parenting
Part of the articles retrieved in the review presented the conceptions and attitudes of different social groups about same-sex parenting and the formation and development of children in this family configuration. This thematic axis is divided into two categories, described below. More positive conceptions about same-sex parenting were found among university students and psychology, social workers and judges professionals when compared to students of engineering and law, and law professionals (Costa, Almeida, et al., 2014;Cerqueira-Santos & Santana, 2015;Machado, 2014;Xavier et al., 2019). In the only Luso-Brazilian study, female and younger participants showed the highest acceptance of homosexuality and same-sex parenting and indicated greater satisfaction with the evolution of society (Reis et al., 2016).
In studies with adults from the general population of Portugal (Costa et al., 2013) and Brazil (Cerqueira- Santos et al., 2017), the most positive conceptions related to adoption were associated first with heterosexual couples, then with female couples, and finally, male couples, which reinforces current gender standards, in which women are traditionally associated with motherhood and care. This conception linked to the reproduction of traditional gender roles was also found in Brazilian and Portuguese studies conducted with medical, psychosocial and legal professionals (Cecílio & Scorsolini-Comin, 2018;Machado, 2014;Xavier et al., 2019). However, another argument was also pointed out by professionals in the psychosocial and legal areas: the recognition that this family formation is as competent as others and that the family's desire and responsibility toward the child is independent of the reproduction of cisheteronormative social values (Cecílio & Scorsolini-Comin, 2018;Machado, 2014;Xavier et al., 2019).
However, in Brazil and Portugal, limitations on how to proceed with the process of assessing homosexual couples were mentioned among professionals in the legal and psychosocial fields (Cecílio & Scorsolini-Comin, 2018;Xavier et al., 2019;Ximenes & Scorsolini-Comin, 2018), demonstrating the fragility of same-sex parent families in this context. Faced with the perceived limitations, strategies reported by professionals in these fields were: to seek knowledge in the scientific literature, promoting an updated performance; talk to more experienced professionals to reduce insecurities about the assessment; and increase comfort with families through interpersonal contact with applicants to same-sex parental adoption (Cecílio & Scorsolini-Comin, 2018;Xavier et al., 2019). In this regard, positive correlations were found between agreement on same-sex parent adoption and the level of interpersonal contact with homosexual people, as evidenced in studies: with Brazilian university students from law and social work courses (Cerqueira- Santos & Santana, 2015); in the assessment of the Brazilian population (Cerqueira- Santos et al., 2017); and in the evaluation of the Portuguese population, mainly among women and non-Catholic heterosexual people (Costa et al., 2015). The level of interpersonal contact (Cerqueira-Santos & Santana, 2015; Cerqueira- Santos et al., 2017) and the comfort in these interactions (Costa et al., 2015) were identified as essential factors in the dissolution of prejudice against sexual minorities.
In another Brazilian study with the general population, people with the internal motivation to act without prejudice towards same-sex parenting scored higher on the valorative subfunctions, designated as interactive (emphasis on affection, coexistence and maintenance of bonds), suprapersonal (less conservative posture) and idealistic (open to social changes and equality ideals). On the other hand, the external motivation to act without prejudice was positively associated with the normative subfunction (greater attachment to traditions and preservation of current social standards), associated with greater repulsion toward what is different (Rezende et al., 2019). In Portuguese and Brazilian studies, there was also the belief that living in a family unit consisting of two mothers or two fathers can jeopardize the well-being (Araújo & Oliveira, 2008;Costa et al., 2013;Machado, 2014), the development of children's sexuality and gender identity (Araújo & Oliveira, 2008;Cadete et al., 2012;Cerqueira-Santos & Santana, 2015;Costa et al., 2013;Costa, Almeida, et al., 2014;Gato & Fontaine, 2013Gomes & Fernandez, 2019;Xavier et al., 2019), conceptions identified in other audiences and among professionals working in the school, legal and psychosocial care context (Cadete et al., 2012;Gomes & Fernandez, 2019;Palma & Strey, 2016;Xavier et al., 2019). There was a fear that children are less likely to have normative sexuality, which was more prevalent among Catholics (Costa, Almeida, et al., 2014), men (Gato & Fontaine, 2013 and law universities when compared to social work students (Cerqueira- Santos & Santana, 2015). In

2) Conceptions of other groups on child development in
Portuguese participants, apprehension about the socialization of gender roles in the sexual development of children adopted by homosexual couples was evidenced (Gato & Fontaine, 2013. In both countries (Cerqueira-Santos & Santana, 2015; Gato & Fontaine, 2016), the concern of university students about the greater risk of sexual abuse of children when adopted by homosexual couples was observed. This concern was mainly observed among university men (Gato & Fontaine, 2016), a fear Research, Society and Development, v. 11, n. 16, e357111638227, 2022 (CC BY 4.0) | ISSN 2525-3409 | DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.33448/rsd-v11i16.38227 also described by psychology professionals in the clinical and judicial context in Brazil (Gomes & Fernandez, 2019;Ximenes & Scorsolini-Comin, 2018). As the nuclear family model persists as an essential social reference for greater adequacy of child development, Brazilian professionals revealed that there is still estrangement and discomfort about same-sex parental families with children in the school context (Cadete et al., 2012;Palma & Strey, 2016). The worries about risks to child development caused by experiences of rejection/prejudice that children from same-sex parent families may face were evident, especially among Portuguese participants: in the society in general (Costa et al., 2013;Gato & Fontaine, 2016;Gomes & Fernandez, 2019;Santos et al., 2018;Xavier et al., 2019), and contexts of interpersonal relationships, such as in the school environment with peers (Cadete et al., 2012;Costa et al., 2013;Costa, Almeida, et al., 2014;Costa, Caldeira et al. 2014;Costa & Salinas-Quiroz, 2018). There was an anticipation of more significant socio-emotional difficulties in children when adopted by homosexual families than in heterosexual families (Costa et al., 2013;Costa, Caldeira et al., 2014;Gato & Fontaine, 2016).

Thematic Axis 2: Experiences of LGB families, with and without children
Another grouping of productions discussed the parental project and the parenting experience of LGB people, single or in a relationship, in different contexts and relational situations. This thematic axis is organized into five categories, as shown below.

Axis 2: Experiences of LGB families, with and without children
Part of the articles dealt with the parental project and the experience of parenting in LGB families with and without children. This thematic axis is divided into five categories, described below.

3) Desire, project, and chosen path to achieve parenting. Portuguese and Brazilian
LGB people and same-sex couples aspired to exercise parenting in the future, or when already exercising the function, they highlighted the process experienced to achieve parenting in their own families. In the Portuguese study by Costa and Bidell (2017) with 530 LGB childless participants, younger participants, people with lower religiosity and greater involvement with the LGBTQ+ community had more motivation for parenting. Brazilian studies have stressed that parenting project was presented as a mutual Research, Society and Development, v. 11, n. 16, e357111638227, 2022 (CC BY 4.0) | ISSN 2525-3409 | DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.33448/rsd-v11i16.38227 Matos et al., 2019;Medeiros, 2006;Rodriguez & Paiva, 2009;Santos & Bruns, 2006;Souza, 2012). Thus, the choice of each family depends on a series of contextual and biopsychosocial factors present in the lives of individuals.
Among couples of women in Brazil and Portugal, the desire to establish a biological bond with the child was recurrently observed, opting for reproductive technologies to achieve parenting. In Brazilian participants' reports, this choice was supported by the desire to experience pregnancy, delivery and breastfeeding (Machin, 2016;Machin & Couto, 2014;Pontes et al., 2015Pontes et al., , 2017Vitule et al., 2015), to maintain a biological bond with the child (Araldi & Serralta, 2019;Machin, 2016;Machin & Couto, 2014;Pontes et al., 2015Pontes et al., , 2017Vitule et al., 2015), and for the practicality in the face of the bureaucracies and length of adoption processes (Vitule et al., 2015). In reports by Portuguese participants, insemination through donated semen was identified as the preferred method to achieve the parental project (Costa & Bidell, 2017), and the moment of searching for assisted reproduction was related to the partner's age, a significant variable for pregnancy success (Santos, 2018b).
In both countries, some articles suggested the existence of an idealistic prioritization of the biological model, even with the wear and tear caused by assisted reproduction. The consideration of the genetic link as natural and the belief that it provides a faithful and closer bond with the child was highlighted (Lira et al., 2016a;Machin, 2016;Machin & Couto, 2014;Pontes et al., 2015Pontes et al., , 2017Santos, 2018b;Vitule et al., 2015). However, although the family formation arising from pregnancy and focusing on biological bonds illustrates an idealized model of the family and the role of women as pregnant women, twomother families itself breaks with heteronormative standards (Pontes et al., 2015(Pontes et al., , 2017 and can collaborate with the discussion on reproduction as intrinsically natural, enabling a broader look at the diversity present in LGBTQ+ families (Santos, 2018b).
The desire to become fathers/mothers by adoption was also mentioned in both countries, although challenges regarding the process were reported (Amazonas et al., 2013;Araldi & Serralta, 2019;Carneiro et al., 2018;Lira et al., 2016a;Machin, 2016;Rodriguez et al., 2015). In the Brazilian context, same-sex couples or single LGB people, especially males, who desired to become fathers/mothers, showed greater flexibility regarding child profiles for adoptive affiliation in the parental project (Araldi & Serralta, 2019;Machin, 2016;Santos & Bruns, 2006;Vitule et al., 2015). Adoptions were described as a commitment to children, valued as a social act (Araldi & Serralta, 2019;Lira et al., 2016a;Machin, 2016) and convenient when thinking about the relationship between people of the same sex, overcoming the desire for a filiation through genetics (Machin, 2016). The omission of the marital relationship was a strategy used in Brazil and Portugal to fulfill this desire (Amazonas et al., 2013;Carneiro et al., 2018).
In different studies, with the prevalence of the Brazilian context, for the implementation of the parental project, the participants stressed the importance of couple's planning (Santos, 2018b;Santos & Bruns, 2006), financial and psychological planning, as well as having achieved professional stability (Araldi & Serralta, 2019;Machin, 2016;Meletti & Scorsolini-Comin, 2015;Santos & Bruns, 2006), which may be related to concerns of middle layers of the population (Machin, 2016) and the progression and stability of the marital relationship (Araldi & Serralta, 2019;Santos, 2018b).
In both countries, even though the parental project could be shared, some families chose to experience this period without sharing it with the family of origin because it is a couple's project or even to anticipate the lack of family support (Araldi & Santana, 2019;Costa, Tasker et al., 2019;Machin, 2016). In the study by Costa and Bidell (2017), family support and friends' support variables were not associated with increased motivation for the parental project, which indicates that families sought this support in other contexts or within the marital relationship itself.
Finally, the influence social norms can have on the parental projects of LGB families was observed. The duality between the desire for parenting and the references to traditional models was noted, especially from the cisheteronormative culture in which they are inserted, such as when participants from different studies described understanding that the family is formed in becoming a father/mother (Rodriguez et al., 2015;Machin, 2016); that homosexuality would imply not having children (Amazonas et al., 2013;Santos, 2018b); that the decision for motherhood would influence the exposure of the marital and parental relationship in different contexts (Santos, 2018b).

4) Experiences associated with parenting in LGB families with children.
In both countries, the diversity of experience of parenting and family formation with children for LGB families was verified, with prevalence in the Brazilian context. Brazilian studies pointed out the variety in parenting experiences in recomposed families. For couples with siblings from previous heterosexual relationships, assuming the actual sexual orientation can trigger prejudice and stigmatization against them (Santos & Bruns, 2006;Souza, 2012). While some recomposed families participated and shared the exercise of parenting in a more integrated way, in other families, it was possible to observe that biological mothers assumed more responsibilities for the child and had greater autonomy over their educational processes and that sometimes the child did not recognize the mother's new partner as a parental pair (Lira et al., 2015;Medeiros, 2006;Rodriguez & Paiva, 2009;Souza, 2012). How families are organized and how the construction of bonds is made possible with the children has implications for the roles and the exercise of parenting among caregivers (Lira et al., 2015;Santos & Bruns, 2006). However, these reported challenges also resemble the experiences of recomposed families in heterosexual families.
Some challenges presented in Brazilian recomposed LGB families were: the absence of the biological father's participation in the children's lives, with the expansion of the partner's involvement and/or the support network in child care (Hernandéz & Uziel, 2014;Martinez & Barbieri, 2011;Martinez, 2013: Medeiros, 2006Rodríguez & Paiva, 2009;Souza, 2012); the need to break prejudices experienced in communities with more unfavorable financial situations (Medeiros, 2006;Souza, 2012); ambivalence in building a bond with the partner and the child, culminating in low quality of relationships and performance in maternal care concerning the child, as well as an emotionally unstable environment (Martinez & Barbieri, 2011;Martinez, 2013). In the recomposed family, as in other different configurations, the family dynamic impacts the parenting experience.
Regarding the beginning of the parenting exercise, changes were identified in the couple's organization with the child's arrival (Amazonas et al., 2013;Araldi & Serralta, 2019;Santos & Bruns, 2006). The adaptations that occurred in the families' routine were described, which had a reduction in programming and outings between the couple (Araldi & Serralta, 2019) and the expansion of care tasks and concerns with the well-being and needs of children (Araldi & Serralta, 2019;Santos & Bruns, 2006). Psychic adaptations have also been described, such as the need for adjustments in life projects, both individually and as a couple (Santos & Bruns, 2006). However, satisfaction was evidenced by the changes during the parenting experience, indicating the couple's maturity and responsibility in choosing the parental exercise (Araldi & Serralta, 2019;Matos et al., 2019). The quality of communication between the couple and parental consensus were also identified as essential elements in the satisfaction with the parenting, co-parenting and conjugality experiences among Brazilian couples (Lira et al., 2015;Matos et al., 2019).
And yet, challenges in the exercise of co-parenting were also described, such as situations of conflict in the presence of children, ambivalence about the time spent in the exercise of parenting and low investment in the couple (Matos et al., 2019); in addition to jealousy/rivalry over the relationship between those responsible for the child (Martinez & Barbieri, 2011;Martinez, 2013;Matos et al., 2019). Conflict situations are associated with negative impacts on child development (Martinez & Barbieri, 2011;Martinez, 2013;Matos et al., 2019).
In part of the Brazilian studies, in the dynamics of organization between couples, greater flexibility was observed in the exercise of different tasks, breaking socially expected standards of binary organization associated with the male/female gender and the traditional nuclear family model. It has been noted that in most families, the members of the couples alternate concerning the performance of childcare (Araldi & Serralta, 2019;Lira et al., 2015;Matos et al., 2019;Pontes et al., 2017;Rodriguez & Paiva, 2009;Santos & Bruns, 2006), dividing parental responsibilities based on the aptitudes, abilities and availability of each member of the couple in facing children's needs (Lira et al., 2015;Pontes et al., 2017).
However, in a case study, divisions based on roles socially associated with the male/female gender were reported, with the biological mother reporting entrusting the child's maternal care to her partner while observing occupying the father's place in the relationship (Martinez & Barbieri, 2011;Martinez, 2013). In the study by Souza (2012), gender tensions were observed in relationships, although the biological mother could take the place of the provider, and the partner also could exercise mothering concerning the children. In this study, the perpetration of violence against the biological mother was observed in three investigated families. Thus, the author assessed that the biological mother does not necessarily break with the heteronormative ideal and would be more vulnerable to the hierarchies in relationships.
Regarding the parental relationship with children, studies with Brazilian families and one with Portuguese families highlighted the relationship with the child positively, emphasizing dialogue, the bond of love, trust and the quality of parentchild relationships. The affective investment of couples with children was evidenced and highlighted as essential for a good relationship and consolidation of the bond between fathers/mothers-child. Furthermore, they demonstrated the ability to exercise the dimensions related to education, care for the well-being, and the preservation of the child's integrity (Amazonas et al., 2013;Araldi & Serralta, 2019;Carneiro et al., 2018;Lira et al., 2015;Medeiros, 2006;Rodriguez & Paiva, 2009;Santos & Bruns, 2006). In some studies that involved parenting established through adoption, parental attention was observed on the process specificities, such as the importance of honest dialogue about the adoption story (Araldi & Serralta, 2019;Amazonas et al., 2013;Carneiro et al., 2018;Matos et al., 2019).
Families' emphasis on fostering values such as freedom, tolerance, respect and dialogue in children's education was stressed (Araldi & Serralta, 2019;Palma & Strey, 2015;Santos & Bruns, 2006). The significant importance of respect for differences in parental experiences in these families was verified, as they have experienced or still experience prejudices and stigmas regarding sexual orientation and same-sex parenting (Araldi & Serralta, 2019;Rodriguez & Paiva, 2009). Studies have shown that parenting skills and the security built by families through the maintenance of space for listening, acceptance, attention and care help resolve internal conflicts and collaborate as promoters of resources for confronting prejudice and as a protective factor for children's development (Araldi & Serralta, 2019;Carneiro et al., 2018;Matos et al., 2019;Rodriguez & Paiva, 2009). Thus, parenting that results in positive child development is that built through affective availability, parental and relational skills of the family, exercised by people who assume the parental role in the child's life, regardless of the caregivers' sexual orientation and suggests children's naturalness about their parents' sexuality (Araldi & Serralta, 2019;Lira et al., 2015;Lourenço & Amazonas, 2015).
The importance of the children's recognition of the parental role related to those responsible for them was evidenced, even if this was not judicially recognized. This has been described in the cases of families formed through adoption, especially when only one of the guardians was recognized in the process; by pregnant mothers and non-pregnant mothers, in which the unilateral adoption by the non-pregnant mother occurred after assisted reproductive treatment; and in recomposed families Lira et al., 2015;Pontes et al., 2017, Souza, 2012. In some families in which the parental pair was not known as "father" or "mother", being referred to as "aunt/godmother/uncle", differentiated care processes and a secondary position regarding the role played with the child were observed (Amazonas et al., 2013;Lira et al., 2015;Martinez & Barbieri, 2011;Martinez, 2013;Pontes et al., 2017;Souza, 2012). Meanwhile, it was seen among the members whose biological or legal connection was not predefined to the child that the consolidation of the parent-child bond was constituted through coexistence, affective availability, care activities, the realization of parent-child interactions, and the desire to occupy the parental place, a place that was seen as auxiliary in the construction and social recognition of the parental figure (Amazonas et al., 2013;Carneiro et al., 2018;Lira et al., 2015;Pontes et al., 2017). Cohabitation due to the child was verified in two families, even if the relationship between the couple was not clear or no longer existed (Amazonas et al., 2013;Martinez & Barbieri, 2011;Martinez, 2013). Thus, the diversity among same-sex parental families was observed, essential to highlight the uniqueness of families through various organizations.
From the perspective of the child/adolescent in LGB families, Brazilian studies have shown that the child's understanding of the couple's sexual orientation usually occurs naturally, through everyday family experiences (Medeiros, 2006;Lira et al., 2015;Lourenço & Amazonas, 2015;Santos & Bruns, 2006), and that open dialogue, clarification of doubts and coexistence with different family compositions were solutions found when questions about parental sexuality were reported (Amazonas et al., 2013;Araldi & Serralta, 2019;Rodriguez & Paiva, 2009;Santos & Bruns, 2006). The same was mentioned about the learning regarding gender roles, considering that these are learned at home and in other contexts of coexistence, such as the extended family and the school environment, among other spaces (Araldi & Serralta, 2019;Hernandéz & Uziel, 2014).

5) Importance of legal aspects.
Issues involving the importance of legal recognition of the family were observable in both countries. The legal recognition of the civil union/marriage (Araldi & Serralta, 2019;Lira et al., 2015) and the child bond (Lira et al., 2015;Machin, 2016;Pontes et al., 2017;Santos & Bruns, 2006) were highlighted in the Brazilian studies as essential movements for the security and guarantee of the rights of all family members (Araldi & Serralta;Lira et al., 2015Lira et al., , 2016a, and as a strategy to legitimize and expand the social acceptance of a reality already experienced by families (Lira et al., 2016a;Pontes et al., 2017;Santos & Bruns, 2006), ensuring coherence for children about their reality (Pontes et al., 2017).
The lack of legal recognition of the union and the affiliation of both parental figures to the child stood out as a weakness for families in both countries, as in cases of adoption and circumstances of a biological link to only one of the mothers. This fact impacted the parenting experience and the recognition and social acceptance of the parental pair in several contexts and may accentuate the caregiver´s feeling of invisibility without the legal bond Costa, Tasker et al., 2019;Lira et al., 2015Lira et al., , 2016a. The fragility caused by this situation can compromise care activities related to health, education and other responsibilities toward children, besides promoting difficulties in cases such as divorce, when the nonlegally recognized caregiver may not have the right to guardianship and/or visitation. These situations can cause negative impacts and apprehension in the parenting exercise Lira et al., 2015;Pontes et al., 2017).
The biological connection seems to guarantee more legal rights between the child and the mother who has gestated her, in addition to immediate legal recognition (Lira et al., 2015;Pontes et al., 2017). In the Brazilian scenario, it is common for couples to file requests through legal proceedings involving the hiring of lawyers to ensure their rights, resulting in higher financial expenses (Araldi & Serralta, 2019;Pontes et al., 2017). Legal impediments and bureaucracies were associated with the length of the adoption process in both countries (Araldi & Serralta, 2019;Carneiro et al., 2018) and showed impacts on parental well-being , Machin, 2016. In the Portuguese study in which there was the omission of the parental couple due to restrictive laws regarding LGB families at the time of adoption, the concern of losing the child was evidenced, in case anything happened to the guardian legally bound to the child, raising feelings of fear and injustice , while in the Brazilian context, couples who opted for joint adoption reported that the legal changes brought good prospects of achieving same-sex parenting through adoption (Machin, 2016). 6) Relationship of families with different contexts: Support X Prejudice. The experience of prejudice in everyday life was a recurring theme in families' reports, with and without children. Discriminatory and/or stigmatizing attitudes were mentioned in different social contexts, such as by the family of origin; friends; health, legal and school services; and society in general (Araldi & Serralta, 2019;Carneiro et al., 2018;Costa, Tasker et al., 2019;Lira et al., 2015Lira et al., , 2016bLúcio et al., 2018;Medeiros, 2006;Meletti & Scorsolini-Comin, 2015;Rodriguez & Paiva, 2009;Rodriguez et al., 2015;Santos, 2018b;Santos & Bruns, 2006;Souza, 2012;Tombolato et al., 2018), in addition to physical violence (Lira et al., 2016b;Souza, 2012), which may result from non-compliance with the cisheteronormative standards expected by society (Lira et al., 2015;Tombolato et al., 2018). It was identified in some reports that religion was associated with LGB-phobic behaviors uttered by family members or religious people (Araldi & Serralta, 2019;Meletti & Scorsolini-Comin, 2015;Tombolato et al., 2018), in person or through social media (Tombolato et al., 2018), and in the refusal of care at a reproductive clinic with a religious bias (Araldi & Serralta, 2019).
The lack of social support and the social pressures of discrimination were identified as hindering parental exercise, situations reported to negatively affect families, both individually and in the family system Lira et al., 2016b;Lúcio et al., 2018;Rodriguez & Paiva, 2009;Souza, 2012). These families sought to integrate lesbian/gay and mother/father identities, coping with cisheteronormativity in favor of visibility and respect for their family composition (Araldi & Serralta, 2019;Costa, Tasker et al., 2019;Meletti & Scorsolini-Comin, 2019;2015;Santos & Bruns, 2006), a necessary and challenging adjustment also in some intra-family processes (Medeiros, 2006;Souza, 2012).
With the arrival of the child, Brazilian and Portuguese dual maternity families related prejudices experienced through the social invisibility of the non-pregnant mother and the invalidation of the family originated in two-mother families, either through gestation or adoption, in different social contexts, including in the relationship with the family of origin (Costa, Tasker et al., 2019;Lira et al., 2016b;Lúcio et al., 2018;Santos, 2018b;Tombolato et al., 2018). Discriminatory attitudes are associated with stigmatizing beliefs about the relationship between two women (Costa, Tasker et al., 2019), donor anonymity and the absence of a father for the child (Costa, Tasker et al., 2019;Santos, 2018b). Some participants in the study by Tombolato et al. (2018) stressed to believe that social tolerance in the two-mother families relationship is associated with the heteronormative view of the woman's role as a mother.
Internalized homophobia was also identified in some reports and was associated with the ambiguous process of accepting one´s homosexuality and experiencing parenting as a same-sex couple. Situations were reported in which: gay parents did not disclose their sexual orientation to the child, justifying the concern that these children would go through the experience of discrimination (Amazonas et al., 2013) and the care of not exposing their private life (Santos & Bruns, 2006); a female couple stated that they wished their daughters could live a heterosexual marriage in adulthood (Rodriguez & Paiva, 2009); the family showed the fear that the sexuality of mothers/fathers would influence the child's sexual orientation and/or development (Amazonas et al., 2013;Medeiros, 2006;Lira et al., 2015;Hernandéz & Uziel, 2014); the impact of the exclusion of the non-biological mother after the divorce, culminating in modifications in the participant's understanding of the experience of their sexuality and parenting (Lira et al., 2015). These situations show how stigmas and prejudices directed toward LGB people and their families can impact family and individual health and well-being and parental exercise.
Brazilian studies also pointed to scenes in which children were confronted about their families, especially in school.
The relationships between families and the context of school social network services and health were perceived either positively or with fears about the reception of the family and possible reactions to the sexual orientation of mothers/fathers. Communication with these services can lead, on the one hand, to the support and strengthening of these spaces as protection, with the reception of families and children, favoring spontaneous expression about their family composition; and on the other hand, the silencing of the affective-sexual identity of those responsible and the invisibility of one of the caregivers, compromising individual needs and the development of family interactions (Lúcio et al., 2018;Palma & Strey, 2015). It was assessed that the school environment can be challenging for children and caregivers of LGB families and that this context is often a perpetuator of discrimination against those who are outside the norm and, consequently, against those who do not follow heteronormative standards (Hernandéz & Uziel, 2014, Lúcio et al., 2018. Despite these experiences, it is noteworthy that maintaining positive parental bonds with the child/adolescent is associated with better health and well-being indicators in children, acting as a protective factor, even though these challenges may occur (Lira et al., 2016b).
The experience of parenting was highlighted as a possibility of approaching the family of origin when previous experiences of non-reception and support on sexuality may have caused a distance among its members (Costa Tasker et al., 2019;Machin, 2016;Machin & Couto, 2014;Lira et al., 2016b), which was identified in the participants' reports even in families that still did not have children (Meletti & Scorsolini-Comin, 2015). In both countries, we verified how the family of origin overcame prejudices to experience the role of grandparents, becoming a possibility of family support (Costa, Tasker et al., 2019;Lira et al., 2016b). Thus, social support facilitated the parenting experience and is hindered by expressions of prejudice and reduced support networks (Araldi & Serralta, 2019;Rodriguez & Paiva, 2009). LGB families were more accepted when they were in line with heteronormative gender roles (Amazonas et al., 2013;Lira et al., 2015;Tombolato et al., 2018). 7) Coping Modes. It was found in the studies coping modes with the difficulties and social prejudices developed by the families related to the experience of parenting and non-traditional family configuration. The participants highlighted modes of confrontation: talking naturally and honestly with the child/adolescent about the sexual orientation of the parental figures and their family composition Costa, Tasker et al., 2019;Lira et al., 2019;Lira et al., 2015;Medeiros, 2006), as well as on the child's insertion in the family Costa, Tasker et al., 2019;Lira et al., 2015). The use of books and films as playful resources for conversation with young children was mentioned (Lira et al., 2015).
In both countries, the participants emphasized the need to re-claim the recognition, both symbolic and legal, of their social and parental roles in different contexts -in their relationships with the extended family, at school, and with friends Costa, Tasker et al., 2019;Lira et al., 2015), and contact with other non-heterosexual families (Araldi & Serralta, 2019;Carneiro et al., 2018;Lira et al., 2015). In the study of Costa, Tasker et al. (2019) in Portugal, pregnant and non-pregnant mothers focused on confrontation with the initial rejection by the family of origin by insisting on the relationship, by trying to convince grandparents to perceive their prejudices and overcome them, aiming to create a relationship with the child, and by seeking support to exercise the parental role and be recognized as mothers. In the different studies, the participants showed that they noticed that these coping modes help themselves and the children to deal with social intolerance and prejudice.
Brazilian families have underlined the importance of the exposure of LGB families in media vehicles and on social networks, considering that both this exposure and assuming their sexual orientation, achieving their marital and parental project, are coping modes with cisheteronormative standards, which help in promoting trust and social security, ensuring rights and reducing prejudices and social inequalities related to this family constitution (Araldi & Serralta, 2019;Tombolato et al., 2018;Lira et al., 2016b).

Final Considerations
This integrative review aimed to analyze and systematize the knowledge produced on same-sex parenting in the Brazilian and Portuguese contexts until 2019 and to describe the main topics addressed in the scientific literature. Differences were identified in the productions on same-sex parenting in the two countries, with a prevalence of qualitative studies in Brazil and quantitative studies in Portugal. However, they all presented a cross-sectional design, considering a gap in the scientific production in the area where other methods were used. Therefore, it is suggested the inclusion of longitudinal productions that can follow the families of same-sex couples, with and without children, as well as families of LGBTQ+ people, in general, to understand how they experience different moments of the familiar life cycle.
In both countries, the desire, achievement and experience of parenting and the parental practices exercised with children were noteworthy. Notably, the challenges experienced and the impacts on the formation of the parent-child bond were related to the experience of prejudice and the fragility in ensuring rights for these families. Over the last decade, both in Brazil and in Portugal, changes in the legal scenario have brought advances in the rights of families of same-sex couples and greater security for them to experience conjugality and parenting. It is possible to infer that the extensive volume of studies on LGB families with children in Brazil, compared to Portugal, may reflect legislative changes, which until 2016 described the prohibition of same-sex parental family constitutions in the country.
In part of the studies, low social support and the coping of prejudices related to LGB-phobia were observed.
Intolerances were placed in the reports of people from sexual minorities and children in these families and studies with different social groups, including professionals in the social network, in both countries. However, experiences of exposure in the media cases of conjugality and parenting, together with the legal changes that have occurred worldwide in recent decades and the legal and social recognition of same-sex parental family formation, acted as a motivator for the planning and implementation of parenting among couples, giving greater visibility and social support to LGBTQ+ families, even inserted in a society marked by cisheteronormative values and traditional standards genders.
Although the conceptions about same-sex parenting and its benefits for child development were positive for many of the Brazilian and Portuguese population, negative pictures were still very present among the participants. The most negative conceptions were associated mainly with older people, men, religious and conservative persons. It was evident that the younger population, often among women, was more open to social changes and assessed them positively, which can be considered an indicator of greater diversity and acceptance among the new generations, as well because of the expansion of the feminist movement and racial and sexual minorities fights, in the social context. Despite this, although greater social openness to diversity has been visible, there is still a long way to go in discussions that propose transformations regarding cisheteronormative values in the countries in question. So, the need to expand the debate on family and diversity in the context of training and updating professionals and society, in general, is assessed.
In this sense, there is an urgent need to expand scientific studies that promote the inclusion of discussions about different sexual orientations and identities. Once accomplished, the expectation relies on expanding the knowledge of professionals and the tools they have to work directly with LGBTQ+ people and families in the legal, educational, assistance and health promotion areas (psychologists, social workers, doctors, nurses), fulfilling the specificities of the community.
Professionals are expected to be prepared to adequately support and guide people from sexual minorities about the rights won with social movements in the last decade. Thus, providing opportunities to work on LGBTQ+ community concerns, promoting new tools and coping strategies as well as biopsychosocial and family well-being besides guaranteeing social rights. Additional research on the emotional health of sexual minority families, the insertion of LGB families in different contexts, the social support received by such families throughout the family's life cycle, and the exercise of parenting are also recommended.