Amy Purvis considers the significance of parentage in residence cases
The case of Re B (a child) [2009] UKSC 5, [2009] All ER (D) 207 (Nov) concerned a young boy (B) who had spent the majority of his life being raised by his maternal grandmother (GB). B had always maintained contact with both his mother (M) and his father (F). F, who had since married and had another child, applied for residence of B. This application was supported by M, despite the fact that she had herself made an unsuccessful application for residence. The Supreme Court (SC) granted a residence order in favour of GB. The determination of residence in this case required the court to make a balanced assessment as to the importance of genetic parenthood.
Re G
Preceding this judgment, however, one could have been forgiven if one assumed that the comprehensive judgment of Baroness Hale in Re G [2006] UKHL 43, [2006] All ER (D) 374 (Jul) had settled this issue. Re G concerned G and W, a lesbian couple who had conceived two children via anonymous sperm donation. On both occasions
