The present article relates to paternity and maternity. The aspects here developed make emphasis in the socio historical characteristics of the paternal and maternal roles that help us understand the functions of the father and the mother, and the cultural practices that define them. To develop the subject matter, the reproduction, the nurture, the socialization and the human specie preservation are understood as cardinal matters in the human beings life; the societies are interested in regulating these processes, which are diverse according to the historical events and the culture.