Montreal throuple wants Quebec to legally recognize them as parents

Three men and their daughter want their family recognized by the Quebec government.

For the last seven years, Eric LeBlanc, Jonathan Bedard and Justin Maheu have been waiting to become parents together, something that happened when they became parents to a three-year-old girl Thursday.

“She’s perfect,” said LeBlanc. “She’s curious, she’s energetic. She loves to play, she loves to jump, she loves to dance.”

The three men, who live as a throuple, adopted her through Quebec Youth Protection Services (DPJ), going through a rigorous process that took years, and some rejection.

They said the first agency they approached wouldn’t take them on because Quebec does not legally recognize more than two parents.

After working with a lawyer, they approached another agency, which they said was more open to their relationship and started the evaluation process.

“Through that process they learned that we are a little different because we’re three, but we’re not different from any other family,” said LeBlanc. Eventually, they were matched with their daughter, and fostered her for two years before they were approved for adoption.

While some other Canadian provinces, including Ontario and British Columbia, legally recognize more than two parents, Quebec does not.

Last April, a Quebec Superior Court judge ruled the government has a year to modify the civil code to allow a child to have more than two recognized parents, saying the current situation is “unconstitutional” and violates the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms since it discriminates against different family models.

Quebec is appealing the decision. The Justice Ministry said it won’t comment since the matter is in court.

“We think that either way it might go all the way to the Supreme Court,” said LeBlanc. “But we’re saddened from the fact that we’re not backed by our own government, which is supposed to be an open government that wants to help every single family.”

While not all three are legally recognized, they said they are sharing the responsibility of raising their daughter equally and are making provisions to ensure that she is protected and provided for in the future.

“We are lucky to be three to give her all that support, but I think we are the lucky ones to have her in our life,” Leblanc said.