This study aimed to understand the experience of motherhood in the context of adoption, based
on the theoretical framework of psychoanalysis, especially regarding the desire of filiation. For
this purpose, this study was based on qualitative, exploratory, and field research, in which a
semi-structured interview was conducted with an over 21 years old adult female participant
who exercises motherhood through adoption. The data were analyzed using Bardin’s content
analysis and the categories were discussed using the theoretical framework of Freud and Lacan's
psychoanalysis, with the support of commentators. Reflecting on motherhood from the
perspective of the desire of filiation means recognizing the various forms that present
themselves as possibilities to transform this project of filiation into the experience of
motherhood. In this sense, recognizing adoption as a valid form of exercising motherhood
implies considering another perspective on motherhood experienced by women. It is necessary
to recognize the multiple facets that involves the desire for motherhood, especially when they
are not related to the gestation of a child. Based on this principle, it is necessary to question
what leads women and men to think about having children and, subsequently, what sustains
mothers and fathers in the process of transitioning to the parental position or parenthood. Thus,
reflecting on adoption’s motherhood from the perspective of the desire of filiation implies
validating the bond between mother and child when they are not connected by blood,
considering the naming and sustenance of this role by a woman, as well as the diversity of
contemporary family arrangements. Furthermore, in terms of psychoanalytic clinical practice,
it is necessary to investigate the plasticity of the desire for motherhood and the experienced
meaning in this perspective, seeking to understand the process of filiation and the adoption of
a child in a woman's imagination, as well as the resources used to sustain the maternal function.
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