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In France, female prisoners who have given birth while incarcerated or just before being imprisoned can keep their child with them in prison until they are 18 months old. Although he lives in detention, the child is not detained. How do the mother and the other parent exercise parental authority over these children? The prerogatives of each parent are protected by international and domestic law, whether or not the child is in detention, and regardless of whether the parent is incarcerated or not. Yet, in practice, prison alters the theoretical rules of the exercise of parental authority. Parental authority is often exercised by the detained mother in an unbalanced way to the detriment of the parent outside. Moreover, the parental rights of both parents are subject to increased control by the prison administration throughout the child’s stay in prison.