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Clashing symbols: fathers and fatherless families under the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill

Smith, Leanne Jean ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7660-874X 2008. Clashing symbols: fathers and fatherless families under the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill. Presented at: Socio-Legal Studies Association Conference, Manchester, UK, 18-20 March 2008.

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Abstract

The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill contains numerous clauses which, if enacted, will alter significantly the legal parental status of a range of persons accessing fertility treatment services. Thus far in the legislative process these provisions have attracted little attention. However, a related proposal to remove the reference to the child's need for a father from s.13(5) HFE Act 1990 has prompted much controversy due to a widespread concern that the Bill will symbolically undermine fatherhood. Conversely, it has been recognised that retaining reference to the child's need for a father symbolically undermines the non-traditional, fatherless families recognised elsewhere in the Bill. This clash of concerns captures a wider struggle in family law, namely the attempt to embrace `new' family forms in a climate where the primacy of old ones is simultaneously reinforced. In relation to parenthood this has involved a struggle to reconcile recognition of the increasingly common separation of biological and social parenthood with the contemporary emphasis on the importance of biological connections. This paper will explore the significance of this struggle in the context of the debates on the relevant parts of the HFE Bill. In questioning whether and how the conflict can be resolved in this instance it will be argued that there is a need to integrate the fatherhood debate with wider debates about the separate significance of biological and social parenthood. This might result in an approach which is less politicised and polarised and infused with more logic and consistency.

Item Type: Conference or Workshop Item (Paper)
Date Type: Completion
Status: Unpublished
Schools: Law
Subjects: K Law > K Law (General)
Related URLs:
Last Modified: 19 Oct 2022 08:32
URI: https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/18149

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