And Baby Makes Four: Dealing With Throuples
Accredited Family Law Specialist and Page Provan Director Stephen Page published a paper exploring the difficulty where more than two people seek to have a child about how they will be recognised or not as the child’s parents.
Introduction
An emerging trend in those who want to become parents are those who seek to be parents where there are more than two intended parents. This issue has been recognised internationally. In Ontario, for example, up to six parents can be, with consent, named on the birth certificate. Australian law has stuck at two parents. The High Court in Masson v Parsons [2019] HCA 212 left open the possibility that more than two parents could be recognised under the Family Law Act.
The evident difficulty is that if the law only recognises two people as the parents, but the child’s reality is that there are three, then what?
I set out below a case example which shows the difficulty where more than two people seek to have a child about how they will be recognised or not as the child’s parents. Cases of multiple parents typically occur in the LGBTIQ+ community.
To learn more, download the paper here.
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