Daddy of them all: Bill finally offers to fill gap in family law

Whether the father of a child was an automatic guardian of his child depended upon his relationship with the mother. The proposed bill would change this, writes Dr Louise Crowley

Certain contentious aspects of the Children and Family Relationships Bill 2015, including the expansion of the capacity to adopt beyond married couples and single applicants; the elimination of anonymous sperm donation; and the regulation of surrogacy have grabbed the headlines in recent months.

This is not surprising as these socially divisive issues have eluded satisfactory state intervention for many years.