"Couples" of Three or More May Obtain Civil Partnerships in Brazil

01/26/2016 - 08h36

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THIAGO AMONICO

FROM SÃO PAULO

Audhrey loved Eustáquio, who loved Rita, who loved Audhrey. The three decided to live together eight years ago and today they are a family.

This is not a shorter, happier and more liberal version of the famous Carlos Drummond de Andrade poem "Quadrilha". Rather, it is the story of a family from Belo Horizonte that a year ago obtained a polyamorous civil partnership - official recognition of their situation. At least eight such documents have been issued in Brazil.

Audhrey Drummond, 49, and Eustáquio Generoso, 57, got married in 1988 and had an on-off relationship until 1997. During that time they had a son, Iago, who is 23.

A year after they split up, Eustáquio began seeing Rita Carvalho, 45. But when Audhrey and Eustáquio met again in 2003, Audhrey admitted that she was still in love with him. "I told him that I didn't mind if Rita was in the picture," she says.

This is not a triangular relationship, but a ménage à trois, with Eustáquio living with both his wife and his mistress. He has his own room, with the women sleeping with him for a week at a time.

As well as obtaining rights to health insurance, polyamorous families also try to obtain recognition for their situation in order to add third (or fourth, or fifth) party to pensions and inheritance plans, for example.

Specialists are divided as to the validity of polyamorous civil partnerships. The public notary Fernanda Leitão believes that they are supported by a 2011 Supreme Court decision which equated homosexual civil partnerships with heterosexual marriage.

The lawyer Luiz Kignel disagrees. He says that the number of polyamorous unions is negligible in comparison to the number of heterosexual and homosexual couples, and as such, there is no indication of social change on this issue.

Translated by TOM GATEHOUSE