Diversity in new family models 2026

Spanish society evolves and so does the concept of family. It is increasingly common to see families that are different from the “traditional” ones, and in most schools the concept of diversity is already being worked on, applied to multiple areas, including the family.

Until relatively recently, family models were limited to heterosexual couples with natural or adopted children, single mothers (often more by necessity than by choice) or widowed or separated/divorced mothers/fathers.

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Currently, thanks in part to medical advances, and living with the traditional model, we find children from various family models, such as, for example:

Assisted reproduction

children from heterosexual couples who have had to resort to assisted reproduction. In Spain, due to the lifestyle and the delay in the maternal age to conceive, more and more couples must resort to these techniques to bring their children into the world. Likewise, in Assisted Reproduction, we can find couples who contribute their genetics to their offspring, or children from Gamete Donation (they can be eggs, sperm, or both), or Embryo Donation (embryos fertilized for other couples, who have not needed them and therefore donate them to couples who do need them, anonymously and altruistically).

Surrogacy

On the other hand, there is an increasing number of heterosexual couples who have their children through Surrogacy, normally due to the mother's inability to conceive or the difficulty of adoption. These children can also come from the parents' eggs and sperm, which are implanted in the uterus of the pregnant woman, or from one of the 2 gametes (or both) from a donation. Surrogacy is currently not legal in Spain, so it is necessary to go to another country where it is regulated.

Homoparental male families

Homoparental families with children from male couples, who have necessarily come into the world through Surrogacy or Adoption. In the case of Surrogacy, the semen usually comes from one of the two parents, unless neither is viable and a donor is used. The eggs come from an egg donor. With respect to adoption, in the case of homosexual couples the difficulty of obtaining it increases and few countries allow it in these cases.

Female homoparental families

Homoparental families with children from female couples, who have come into the world through Assisted Reproduction, or through Adoption. Within Assisted Reproduction, in the case of lesbian couples, the eggs of the pregnant mother can be used or the ROPA method (reception of eggs from the couple), where one of the women carries the baby and the other provides her eggs. In any case, it is necessary to donate sperm.

single mothers

Single mothers by choice, who turn to science and a sperm donor to fulfill their dream. Like other cases, an Assisted Reproduction technique can be performed with your own or donor eggs, or you can resort to Embryo Donation. In the case of a single mother who wants to adopt a child, she must find a country where adoption is allowed for single-parent families. Surrogacy is also possible, in the case of pregnancy problems.

single parents

Single parents by choice: in this case the only option is Surrogacy in another country, or adoption in a country where single-parent male families are allowed.

Families with children from previous relationships

Families with children from previous relationships. Sometimes, both members of the couple bring children from previous relationships to the relationship, to which can be added the children they have in common with the current couple.

This new scenario enriches family relationships, but sometimes makes it necessary to work on key aspects such as diversity from childhood. On the other hand, the convenience of telling children their origins is a topic that has opened great debates in our society, although the majority of professionals today agree that it is beneficial to tell non-genetic children what their origin is. Recent studies suggest that there are no differences in the evolutionary development between children who come from genes other than the paternal ones (and are aware of this circumstance) and the rest of the children, nor have significant differences been found between children raised in single-parent families, homoparental families or heterosexual couples.

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Article written by Estefanía Pereira, emotional support coach at Fertility Madrid