Traditionally, the family begins with the story of two people that form a couple, the support for the raising of children. Throughout the life cycle, several transformations occur. Adolescence and the transition towards adulthood are developmental phases important to understand the changes in the parent-child relationship, in which many times separation has already happened. The purpose of this article is to discuss the repercussions of conjugality and separation on parenthood, analyzing, from the historical narrative of fathers and mothers, the parent-child relationship throughout life, and especially, during emerging adulthood. In a qualitative research, we interviewed men and women, fathers and mothers of 15- to 26-year-old children, of the middle class of Rio de Janeiro. The interviewees were either married, divorced or remarried, and told stories of conjugality, parenthood and separation that affected and/or still affect the parent-child relationship. From the analysis of the 25 interviews, we concluded that both father and mother actively participate in the life of their children, yet in different ways. We noted the striking predominance of the mother and the specificity of the paternal presence, still poorly valued and understood, especially when the separation takes place.