established in all cases for the benefit of the adopted child, according to law. International adoption shall be subordinated to domestic adoption. Article 76. Motherhood and fatherhood are fully protected, whatever the marital status of the mother or father. Couples have the right to decide freely and responsibly the number of children they wish to conceive and are entitled to have access to the information and means necessary to guarantee the exercise of this right. The State guarantees overall assistance and protection for motherhood, in general, from the moment of conception, throughout pregnancy, delivery and the puerperal period, and guarantees full family planning services based on ethical and scientific values. The father and mother have the shared and inescapable obligation of raising, nurturing, educating, maintaining and caring for their children, and the latter have the duty to provide care when the former are unable to care for themselves. The necessary and appropriate measures to guarantee the enforceability of the obligation to provide alimony shall be established by law. Article 77. Marriage between a man and a woman, which is based on free consent and absolute equality of rights and duties of the spouses, is protected. A stable de facto union between a man and a woman which meets the requirements established by law shall have the same effects as marriage. 20. I agree with the notion of an evolving interpretation that considers the American Convention as a living instrument to be understood according to present-day circumstances, but on the understanding that in order to make progress in that area it is necessary to reach a consensus, or common ground or a convergence of standards among the States Party (see supra, para. 9 (11). This is the case as regards the recognition that discrimination based on sexual orientation should be understood as prohibited (paras. 83 to 93 of the Judgment), since a clear concept exists in this respect, not only among the States Party to the American Convention, but also among all Member States of the OAS, expressed in the resolutions of the General Assembly cited (note 97). 21. The same cannot be said with respect to the evolution of the notion of the family and its status as the foundation or basic or natural element of society, which continues to be present in the Constitutions of many States Party (supra, para. 19). The irrefutable fact that there are currently many different concepts of ‘family, as stated in note 191 of the judgment14, does not necessarily mean that each and every one of these must correspond to what the American Convention understands by family - even with an evolving interpretation according to the parameters mentioned (supra, paras. 9 (11) and 18)- as the “natural and fundamental element of society,” or to what the States Party with similar provisions understand as such. Nor does it mean to say that all States Party must recognize 14 The text of note 191 states the following (cursives added): “The United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women, General Recommendation No. 21 (13th period of sessions, 1994). Equality in marriage and in family relationships, para. 13 (“the form and the concept of the family can vary from State to State and even between regions within a State. Whatever form its takes, and whatever the legal system, religion, custom or tradition within the country, the treatment of women in the family, both at law and in private, must conform to the principles of equality and justice for all people, as Article 2 of the Convention requires”); Committee on the Rights of the Child, General Comment No. 7. Implementing Child Rights in Early Childhood, CRC/C/GC/7, September 30, 2005, paras. 15 and 19 (“The Committee recognizes that ‘family’ here refers to a variety of arrangements that can provide for young children’s care, nurturance and development, including the nuclear family, the extended family and other traditional and modern community-based arrangements, provided that these are consistent with children’s rights and best interests. […] the Committee notes that in practice family patterns are variable and changing in many regions, as is the availability of informal networks of support for parents, with an overall trend towards greater diversity in family size, parental roles and arrangements for bringing up children”); Human Rights Committee, General Comment No. 19 (39th period of sessions, 1990). The Family (Article 23), HRI/GEN/1/Rev.9 (Vol.I), para. 2 (“The Committee notes that the concept of family may differ in some respects from State to State, and even from region to region within a State, and that it is therefore not possible to give the concept a standard definition”). Cfr. United Nations, Human Rights Committee, General Comment No. 16 (32nd period of sessions, 1988). Right to Privacy (Article 17), HRI/GEN/1/Rev.9 (Vol.I), para. 5 (“Regarding the term "family", the objectives of the Covenant require that for the purposes of Article 17, this term be given a broad interpretation that includes all those comprising the family, as understood in the society of the State Party concerned.”) 11