Reflections about Multiparenthood in Brazilian Jurisprudence: a Study in Four Topics

Abstract

With the advent of the Code of Civil Procedure (2015), much was considered about the internalization of the system of judicial precedents in the Brazilian legal system. In this study, starting from the judicial precedent inaugurated by the Supreme Court in Extraordinary Appeal nº 898.060/SC, which dealt with multiparenthood and forms of affiliation, it was discussed how the precedent has been applied by the Brazilian courts, from survey of court decisions handed down in the scope of the STF, STJ and ten Courts of Justice, between September 2016 and March 2021. Four main themes were identified, developed from the reception of precedent by national courts and that require a theoretical approach qualitative. They are: a) the (im)possibility, as a rule, of applying the ratio decidendi on the precedent in question in the cases of adoption; b) the different roles that affectivity occupies in the relationships of affiliation; c) the (un)need for the biological bond to also be socio-affective in order for it to be able to produce effects; d) the identification that the “own legal effects” arising from biological affiliation also include those of a patrimonial nature. Based on the mapping of the state of the art on the theme of multiparenthood, the article seeks to offer tools for understanding these still-unresolved issues.