The Canela have always been considered and monogamous, meaning they marry in pairs, society, even with the practice of extra-marital sex. While extra-marital sex is practiced by most, marriage is considered separate, and occurs when a child is conceived. The child will be then raised by the couple, and they will live in the wife’s household, although extra-marital relations will continue on. The Canela have a very interesting view of conception, as they believe that multiple men donate semen, which together form the fetus, as opposed to one man fertilizing the egg. Through this the child can have multiple fathers, although the mother’s true husband is the one who raises it, as it is assumed that he donated the most semen.
The idea of multiple…show more content… If a Canela woman had four children, and another woman had two, then it is likely that they would balance so they each had three, continuing with the theme of sharing. If something like this were to occur, then the switched child would consider the woman who raised her to be her true mother, as opposed to the birth mother. While she may be aware of her birth mother, it would not mean anything to her. The child would likely have multiple mother-figures in its life as well, being raised in the mother’s household. As for the father, while we may be aware of the fact that the father who raises the child may not be the true father, as the Canela, as stated, accept the reality that you can have multiple fathers for one…show more content… In the Nyimba way, the children are raised by all of the brothers, and the brothers are considered father-figures, while in the Canela, the children may have multiple fathers, but they will only be raised by one. As for motherhood, in the Canela, a child’s mother-figures would be the women who raised it, although, none of them are guaranteed to be its birth mother, as covered earlier. In the Nyimba, however, the mother takes the form of the birth mother, along with any sisters the father may have, if they haven’t already married into a new