CBA NATIONAL | The changing definition of family
Karin Galldin's family started as many do, with a simple desire to raise children. While the route she chose to get there was still unpaved, the path had been cleared. By the time she gave birth to a beautiful baby girl, everything was in place for her to get legal recognition as one of four parents along with her partner, as well as the birth father and his partner. There is more acceptance today around diverse relationships involving multiple parents and alternative family structures. The legal definition of family continues to evolve, in some provinces more so than in others. But the process remains slow, incremental, and inconsistent. And it can be costly for those who decide to push the envelope by launching a constitutional challenge.
This kind of legal recognition has practical ramifications, says Robert Leckey, Dean of the McGill University Faculty of Law, where he teaches constitutional and family law. "Without parental status, you couldn't pick up the kid at daycare without documents; you couldn't travel with the kid; you couldn't authorize a vaccine — all the things that being a parent makes possible."