Abstract
INTRODUCTION: Throughout the adoption journey, prospective parents face challenges at various stages of the process. In this context, the waiting period stirs up the emotions of applicants coming from diverse family backgrounds. OBJECTIVE: To understand the emotions and feelings experienced by same-sex couples during the qualification process and the National Adoption and Foster Care System (SNA), which encompass the wait for adoption. METHODOLOGY: The qualitative research employed a phenomenological approach based on Merleau-Ponty’s premises and a semi-structured interview guide, involving four same-sex couples who were approved and registered in the National Adoption System (SNA). RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: The findings indicate that couples experience varying emotional states throughout the adoption waiting period. Indeed, emotions and feelings, predominantly negative, prevailed from the beginning to the end of the qualification process, contrasting with the experience of waiting on the National Adoption Registry (SNA) list; this suggests that the "adoptive pregnancy" involves emotional aspects that go beyond those experienced in a biological pregnancy. CONCLUSION: Merleau-Ponty’s phenomenology has made it possible to understand that the emotions and feelings typical of the wait for adoption arise from lived experience and the body-world relationship. This indicates that lived temporality, intersubjectivity, and situated corporeality form the basis of the experience of prospective parents as they await their desired child. These findings demonstrate significant convergence with studies on the same topic conducted with women using different methodologies. This discovery contributes to a more robust and comprehensive understanding of the essence of the phenomenon under study.