Discursos sobre maternidade lésbica na rede social Youtube

Abstract

Lesbian motherhood remains an underexplored topic from scientific, legal, and healthcare perspectives. It is shaped by prevailing representations of gender and family that often fail to recognize family structures formed by two mothers. In Brazil, legal recognition of same-sex parenthood and access to assisted reproduction through the Unified Health System (SUS) are relatively recent developments, following a 2013 resolution by the Federal Council of Medicine and a 2011 ruling by the Federal Supreme Court. Nevertheless, significant legal gaps remain, and public access to information on the subject is still limited. Considering that social media has become an important source of information and visibility on a wide range of topics, including health-related issues, this study investigates the discourses produced on social media regarding shared motherhood between two women. The aim is to understand which voices address this topic and what types of content and meanings are conveyed. To this end, YouTube videos were searched using the keywords "lesbian motherhood," "lesbian mothers," and "same-sex motherhood." From the total number of videos retrieved, those in other languages (13), those concerning lesbian motherhood in other countries (2), videos unrelated to the topic (30), and videos with fewer than one thousand views were excluded, given the objective of analyzing the most viewed and accessible content available to the Brazilian public. Duplicate videos were counted only once (3). A total of 65 videos were identified, of which only 23 specifically addressed lesbian motherhood in the Brazilian context. The majority (15 videos) featured lesbian mothers sharing their personal experiences. The remaining eight videos were produced by professionals—including physicians, lawyers, and journalists—and focused on fertility procedures and legal rights. From a qualitative perspective, the main themes emerging from the mothers' narratives included gender and racial discrimination, the lack of preparedness among healthcare professionals and civil registry offices regarding the rights and needs of lesbian mothers, difficulties in accessing assisted reproduction due to the limited availability of services within the SUS and the high costs of private fertility clinics, breastfeeding experiences, family support, among other issues. Notably, these topics are rarely addressed by healthcare professionals or in government-produced informational videos. The findings highlight the need to expand public debate, promote scientific research, strengthen professional training, improve the legal and regulatory framework, and develop healthcare guidelines and access policies that adequately address the formation of families with two mothers and their children.