The following is the list of the types of descent:

       i) unilineal descent including patrilineal descent and matrilineal descent.

       ii) double-unilineal descent

       iii) bilateral or cognatic descent.

In other societies, by contrast and your own is most probably one of them-descent is reckoned unilineally, that is, in one line only. The child is affiliated either with the group of the father, that is, patrilineal descent, or with the group of the mother, that is, matrilineal descent. Theories of the physiology of procreation and conception often correlate with these different modes of reckoning descent. In the former, the father is often given the primary role in procreation while the mother is regarded as merely the carrier of the child; in systems of the latter type the father's role may not be acknowledged at all. Additionally, in some societies one finds that the child is affiliated to the group of either parent, depending on choice, or to one parent for some purposes (for instance, inheritance of property) and to the other parent for other purposes (for instance, the inheritance of ritual or ceremonial roles). This is called double unilineal descent.