For the past few years in Belgium, a statute for 'social kinship' has been in development – one that would recognize the place and the rights of a “de facto” parent. Beyond the stated intentions, I will show how the issue of multiparenting constitutes one of the major difficulties preventing the passing of this project. The analysis will examine the different ways that parenthood is understood, and its legal recognition within different proposals for law, with the goal of gaining an understanding of the limits and ambivalences of these as well as the norms and the underlying representations of parents.