Sharon Duchesneau and Candy McCullough's decision in the US to seek out and employ a sperm donor with a family history of deafness in order to maximise their chances of having a deaf child raises a number of ethical questions. Do parents have an obligation to give their children the best lives possible? Do parents...

In Sole Parents, Social Wellbeing and Housing Assistance Terry Burke and Kath Hulse compare the attitudes and circumstances of two sets of sole parent households: those in public housing and those receiving government rental assistance in the private market. The survey data showed that housing was less affordable for the latter group, despite their higher...

Leslie Cannold provides an analysis of several philosophically interesting results of a recent study of the fertility decision-making of thirty-five childless/childfree Australian and American women. While most women endorsed and expanded on longstanding normative prescriptions for how a "good" mother ought to feel and behave, they were at a loss (at times quite literally) to...

Final report profiling the pattern of movement of sole parents in Australia by Bob Birrell and Virginia Rapson.

Same sex parenting is becoming more common, yet parenting by gay and lesbian couples is not recognised under Australian law; same sex couples may not marry and currently there is no provision for joint adoption applications from same sex couples. This research note examines the law in Australia, the law in Canada and the outcome...