Contact with donor father

In re D (contact and PR: lesbian mothers and known father) (2) [2006] EWHC 2 (Fam); SJ 3 February

Two women, M and C who were in a same-sex relationship, wanted to bring up a child together. They advertised for a man to father a child and the applicant provided his services, resulting in the birth of D to M. M and C were granted a joint residence order and the father was granted contact. M had parental responsibility as D’s mother and C as a result of the joint residence order. They opposed the father’s application for parental responsibility because they were concerned about the potential threat to the stability of D’s immediate family from interference by the father and the impact on society’s perception of the family if the father used parental responsibility to become more visible in D’s life.