Is it true that in some Western countries the terms “mom” and “dad” are banned, and “parent 1” and “parent 2” are used instead?

For several years, information has been circulated in Russia that some Western countries have banned the use of the words “mother” and “father” in official documents, so as not to offend same-sex parents. Instead, the neutral terms "parent 1" and "parent 2" are used. We checked if this is true.

Representatives of the Russian government periodically declare, that in the West the use of the terms “father” and “mother” was allegedly banned, and they were replaced by gender-neutral “parent 1” and “parent 2”. Such statements were made, for example, by the Russian representative to the UN Boris Chernenko and head of the Federation Council of the Russian Federation Valentina Matvienko. President Vladimir Putin too more than once such spoke. On September 30, at the ceremony of signing agreements on the admission of several Ukrainian territories to the Russian Federation, Putin once again raised this topic: “Do we really want here in our country, instead of mom and dad, to have parent number 1, number 2, number 3? Are you completely crazy already? The version about the prohibition of the concepts “mom” and “dad” is also often mentioned in Media, blogs And social networks. For example, in the media you can find many headlines like: “The words “father” and “mother” will be banned in Europe” (“Free press"), "In Europe there will be neither father nor mother" ("Arguments of the week"), "The Council of Europe proposes to send the words "mom" and "dad" to the trash heap of the language - they have revealed "sexism"" ("Voice of Russia"). "Komsomolskaya Pravda” developed this topic even further: “And most importantly, what about babies who happily babble “mom” and “dad”? Apparently, they should be punished from childhood for such “obscene language,” because they will have to live in a politically correct Europe.”

In some countries, the term “parent” without a hint of gender is actually used in document flow. We looked at several examples of the introduction of gender-neutral terms in Western countries, about which the Russian media wrote most widely.

USA

In 2011, Russian media reported, that on the American passport application form the columns about parents were renamed from “mother” and “father” to “parent 1” and “parent 2”. You can verify the unreliability of this information by finding form applications for website US State Department. In the item “Information about parents”, the columns are signed “Mother / father / parent”.

Also in 2021, Russian media wrote, that “the US Congress is preparing a ban on the words “mother”, “father”, “son”, “daughter” and a number of other related concepts.” The fact is that on January 1, 2021, the US House of Representatives adopted amendments to the set of internal rules of the House of Representatives, as is done before each legislative session. One of amendments touched upon paragraph 8(c)(3) of the Code of Conduct, which states that relatives should not be hired for paid positions. It further explains who exactly falls under the definition of a relative. Gender-specific terms such as “father, mother, daughter, son, husband, wife, grandson, granddaughter” were replaced with gender-neutral terms “parent, child, spouse, grandchildren.” This replacement affected only one document in the United States - the rules of the House of Representatives. At the same time, no one prohibited the use of the terms “mother” and “father” in other official documents or in oral speech.

United Kingdom

In the UK, a new form for obtaining a passport was also introduced in 2011. By mistake messages Russian media, in passport forms, instead of the columns “mother” and “father,” “parent 1” and “parent 2” appeared. In fact, the terms “mother” and “father” in the new form were preserved, and the columns became known as “mother or parent 1” and “father or parent 2”. That is, the concepts of “mother” and “father” did not disappear and were not prohibited either in documents or in public use.

France

In 2019, according to Russian Media, France has officially replaced the mention of mom and dad in school forms filled out by parents. In fact, such a bill was proposed, but after a wave of criticism rewritten. Instead of replacing “parent 1” and “parent 2” in the forms, a third column was added to the two columns “mother” and “father” - “other legal representative”.

European Union

In 2011, many media wrote, that “The Council of Europe has proposed to abolish ‘mothers’ and ‘fathers’.” These articles were about resolution 1751adopted by the Council of Europe following report Swiss politician Doris Stump entitled “Combating gender stereotypes in the media.” The report describes the problem of gender stereotypes, but there are no prohibitions or recommendations. The word “parent” does not appear in the text of the report at all. The word “mother” is mentioned only a few times, in descriptions of women’s roles in society and the family, according to the media: “They (women - editor’s note) are described or perceived as weak, vulnerable and dependent, limited to the role of mother, wife or sexual object; Women who achieve success in the professional sphere are portrayed as career women endowed with “masculine” qualities.” In the text resolutions The PACE adopted as a result of the report does not contain the words “mother”, “father” and “parent” at all. And in recommendations it only says that the Committee of Ministers should remind subordinate bodies of the need to use non-sexist expressions. There are no recommendations about replacing some terms with others.

And judging by the personal experience of some Russians living in Europe, there are no bans or displacement of the words “mom” and “dad” from speech. Russian film producer Sam Klebanov living in Sweden wrote on his Twitter that the only type of documents from which the columns “mother” and “father” were removed were forms for parents in kindergartens and schools. The signature box now says “parent/guardian” and either parent can sign the form. According to Sam Klebanov, this is done not only for the convenience of same-sex families (which are “extremely rare” in Sweden) but also for families where the child is being raised by adoptive parents or, for example, grandparents.

Russia

It is worth noting that in Russia, a number of documents also use gender-neutral alternatives instead of “mother” and “father”. For example, in statement for the issuance of a foreign passport for a minor child (“legal representative”) or permission to process the child’s personal data (“parent or legal representative”). Users of social networks also post photographs of forms from kindergartens And institutions of further education Russia, where you need to fill in data for “parent 1” and “parent 2”. Judging by the clarification a few lines below (“type of relationship: father, mother, grandmother, grandfather, guardian”), this designation allows you to enter other relatives or guardians raising the child.

Thus, despite numerous articles in the Russian media about the prohibition of the terms “mother” and “father” in Western countries, not a single case we verified turned out to be true. Some countries did introduce the use of gender-neutral language, but traditional designations of parents were not prohibited in any country - neither in document circulation nor in oral speech.

Cover image: euronews

Not true

What do our verdicts mean?

Read on the topic:

1. Is it true that the practice of the “Swedish family” is widespread in Sweden?
2. Meduza. Putin said that while he is president, “parents No. 1 and No. 2” will not replace “mom” and “dad.” Is there really such a thing somewhere?