Redefining family: should lesbians have access to assisted reproduction?

Abstract

The recent Federal Court decision in McBain v. Victoria, which rendered inoperative a Victorian law that restricted assisted reproductive technology to married or heterosexual de facto couples, has raised the issue of whether lesbians should have access to such technology. This article provides an overview of State laws currently regulating lesbian access to assisted reproduction in Australia. It then explores the growing body of empirical research indicating that the welfare of children raised in lesbian households does not differ in any significant respect from the welfare of children raised in comparable circumstances by heterosexual parents. This research undermines the view that children suffer social stigma or experience hardship caused by the lack of a 'father figure.' The 'welfare of child' rhetoric has in fact been used to mask marginalisation of 'alternative' family forms, and the reluctance to extend assisted reproductive technology to lesbians is underpinned by a deep-rooted fear of undermining the traditional heterosexual nuclear family.