Katherine O’Donovan and Jill Marshall Introduction Debating the nature of autonomy is central to feminist theory. Taking control of one’s own life is a foundation of feminism, and, strategically, autonomy is important to feminism as it allows for agency, change and self-determination. Feminism proposes ways of knowing and being in which a self is developed […]

As the main focus of this chapter was the impact of the (lack of) legal ascription of parenthood for establishing familial status and kinship naming practices in lesbian and heterosexual families conceived by donation, there is insufficient scope to consider the proposed changes in detail. Rather, the following comments are intended to be illustrative of […]

This question is more problematic, because of the ongoing debate between legal commentators as to the relative weight to be attached to genetic parentage, the intention to parent, or the ongoing care provided for a child, when ascribing legal parenthood.[321] In the context of assisted reproductive technologies, the genetic and intention models of parenthood have […]

To address the status issues raised in my interviewees’ accounts, I will focus on the three questions posed in the introduction. Does Anglo-Welsh family law have the necessary mechanisms for recognising the parental role of co-mothers? As outlined in the introduction, the legal concept of parenthood is made up of a number of components. Principally, […]

Seeking a joint residence order was an issue raised in all four lesbian couples’ accounts. In Jane’s and Helen’s case, the reason for seeking a joint residence order was explained with reference to co-mother Helen’s lack of legal status. At the time of the interview, they had completed an affadavit but not yet begun formal […]

Consenting to insemination Naming practices not only are significant within families, but can potentially provide external recognition of a co-mother’s parental role. Kate and Sarah dis­cussed the strategy they used to provide the co-mother (Sarah) with a symbolic form of recognition of her intending parental role. They noted that, during the process of accessing donor […]

The terminology Andrea uses is indicative of the negotiation of kinship terms relating to co-mothers. Charis Cussins[289] has examined the strategies used by women using assisted reproductive technologies at a US clinic to determine who would be considered the mother of a child resulting from donor eggs and/or the use of (host or full) surrogacy. […]

That’s another one of the issues that came up at the clinic. . . the secrecy [about the use of donor sperm]. There’s an element of secrecy about it in that normally it’s heterosexual couples, and the husband will be the legal father. And of course we [Sarah and her partner Kate] can’t pretend that […]

Claire and Neil initially sought access to donor insemination in the late 1980s, prior to the HFEA 1990. Under the Anglo-Welsh legal provisions at that time,[273] Neil would have been recognised as the legal father of any child resulting from donor insemination. Consequently, Neil could legally be named as the father on the child’s birth […]

During the period between March and November 1999, I undertook a total of nine semi-structured interviews with women and men who had sought access to licensed donor insemination following the enactment of the 1990 Act. The sample comprised three lesbian couples and one woman in a lesbian relationship whose partner did not attend the interview; […]