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This text is a reminder that law reform in order to recognize two parents of the same sex cannot simply reflect social practice, but will influence it in different ways. Based on research and debates published principally in English, this article compares the regimes enacted in the United Kingdom and in Quebec to grant parental status respecting the children born of assisted procreation to lesbian couples. Then it compares the portraits of lesbian motherhood implicit in those regimes with those provided by sociological empirical research. These comparisons inspire reflections on the methodological difficulties engendered by efforts to draw together law and social practice.