There are few areas of public policy in the Western world where there is as much turbulence as in family law. Often the disputes are seen in terms of an endless war between the genders. Reviewing developments over the last 30 years in North America, Europe and Australasia, Patrick Parkinson argues that, rather than just being about gender, the conflicts in family law derive from the breakdown of the model on which divorce reform was predicated in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Experience has shown that although marriage may be freely dissoluble, parenthood is not. Dealing with the most difficult issues in family law, this book charts a path for law reform that recognizes that the family endures despite the separation of parents, while allowing room for people to make a fresh start and prioritizing the safety of all concerned when making decisions about parenting after separation.

'Must reading for anyone interested in family law and policy. Professor Parkinson offers a comprehensive and compelling cross-national analysis of legislative efforts to recognize the indissolubility of parenthood and to foster the parent-child tie after family separation.'

Marsha Garrison - Secretary-General of the International Society of Family Law

'Parkinson has done a masterful job of identifying international trends in family law over the past four decades. Focusing on the gradual but dramatic shift in the meaning of separation and divorce for its participants, family law, government, and society, Parkinson writes with clarity, objectivity and balance, and the perspective of many years as a legal scholar, researcher, and family law reformer … The book makes a very significant contribution to the fields of family law and social science.'

Joan B. Kelly, Ph.D.

'Family Law and the Indissolubility of Parenthood is the latest book by Patrick Parkinson who is a Professor of Law at the University of Sydney and a highly respected and internationally renowned expert on Family Law. Even by his own high standards this work is a tour de force. Its underlying thesis is that whatever the status of the relationship between partners before their separation, they are tied together by bonds of parenthood and that these bonds are more enduring than the ties that marriage alone involved. No serious scholar of Family Law can afford not to read it. It puts developments of so many jurisdictions into context, as well as pointing the reader to a wealth of research around the Family Law world. On top of this it is challengingly thought provoking.'

N. V Lowe - Head of Cardiff Law School

'This interesting book is truly a solid piece of work at its best. It is indeed very thought-provoking and may benefit many kinds of readers. It is thus highly recommendable for anyone interested in post-divorce parenthood, especially since it is conducted in a comparative perspective.'

Professor Eva Ryrstedt - Faculty of Law, Lund University