Archive Article
Who is parenting and how
| MAJOR REPORT - OCTOBER 2002 |
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Parenting is a big issue in our communities. As more of us choose to have children outside of traditional two parent heterosexual relationships, new family forms are appearing without the social or legal categories to recognise them. We use the following terms to try to be clear about who is undertaking what roles.
| Biological mothers |
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| Non-biological mothers who have jointly planned, conceived and raised a child with a female partner |
| Parenting a child who was born to their partner in a previous relationship |
| Non-biological fathers who are co-parenting a child from birth with a male partner who is the biological or adoptive father |
Co-parents is the gender neutral term to cover both co-mother and co-fathers who are parenting equally with a partner who is the biological or adoptive parent of the child.
Biological fathers who have chosen to have children with lesbian mothers through donor insemination (DI) may undertake any number of roles, from meeting the child on a single or limited number of occasions, to an involved and active parent figure. We use the following terms to make these roles clear.
| Biological fathers through donor insemination who know, but have little involvement with, a child they have helped create |
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| Biological fathers who have some involvement, and regular contact, with their children |
| Biological fathers who are very involved with their children, and some sharing of responsibility |
Yes, we know, it is confusing.