INTRODUCTION

This chapter presents reflections on the rapidity of recent changes to the law related to parent – child relationships following a number of years of writing on changes in the law related to parenthood. The title of the chapter has been borrowed from Sachs LJ who, in the 1970 case of Hewer v Bryant, evocatively referred to ‘a cascade of legislation’ responsible for changing the nature of the law related to children in the twentieth century. Many of the changes he was alluding to featured heavily in my undergraduate modules on family law. This was in no small part because I was privileged to be taught by Professor Nigel Lowe. I have two vivid memories of the experience. One is the image of him leaning intensely over the table and barking ‘authority?!’ in response to almost any student comment (an exercise in scholarly rigour that I sorely needed but, in truth, have yet to master). The other is of a moment in a large lecture theatre, in which he related the facts and summarised the judgment from the case of C v C. Sitting in the front row, I signalled my disapproval of Glidewell LJ's assertion of the innate superiority of heterosexual parenting arrangements. Perhaps I did this less quietly than I ought to have done because I attracted sufficient attention to elicit a response. A brief exchange concluded with Nigel commenting that this might be an interesting area for research. He must bear some responsibility for the fact that, not long aft erwards, I commenced a PhD on the topic of lesbian parenting and the law.

As my doctorate approached its end, the law moved on apace. In the years following its completion I wrote on the parenthood provisions of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 2008, as well as on common law developments connected with calls to recognise multiple parenting arrangements involving lesbian women and known sperm donors. In reflecting on all this for the purposes of the present piece, my thoughts turned to broader questions about the direction of and drivers behind developments in the law related to parent – child relationships.