Family Pluralism and the Right to Have a Family - Revision of Article 14 of the Swiss Constitution

The traditional legal concept of “the family” in Switzerland is represented by the nuclear family: a married opposite-sex couple and their biological children. This concept of the family retains considerable influence in framing not only the current form of art. 14 of the Swiss Constitution but also Swiss laws and policies in numerous areas such as social security, immigration, taxes, adoption, and reproductive medicine. It is becoming increasingly distant though from the lived reality of very many Swiss families and their children. In fact, family formation has undergone profound changes over the past decades throughout the Western industrialized world, due to important socio-demographic and social changes and technological innovation in the area of medically assisted reproduction. As a consequence, family forms have become markedly more plural, including unmarried heterosexual couples, same-sex families, and single individuals with children