Abstract: In the past few decades, gays and lesbians, along with their families, have become more visible members of Canadian society, enjoying increasing levels of legal recognition. In the area of legal parenthood, however, significant questions remain unanswered. In Transforming Law's Family, Fiona Kelly explores the complex issues encountered by planned lesbian families as they work to define their parental rights, roles, and family structures within the tenets of family law. While Canadian courts recognize lesbian parenthood in some circumstances, a number of issues that are largely unique to planned lesbian families – such as the legal status of known sperm donors and non-biological mothers – persist. Drawing on interviews with lesbian mothers, this groundbreaking book illuminates the changing definitions of family and suggests a model for law reform that would enable the legal recognition of alternative forms of parentage. The first empirical study in Canada to address the legal dimensions of planned lesbian families, this book makes an important contribution to family law, queer studies, and law reform literature.
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