Assisted Reproduction includes donor insemination, in vitro fertilization (IVF), intrauterine insemination (IUI), and surrogacy. Prior to the Family Law Act (“FLA”), family law in BC was premised on very basic and incomplete notions of family: children were conceived through sexual intercourse and their parents were the woman whose body the child came from (the child’s mother) and the male partner who participated in the sexual intercourse that conceived the child (the child’s father). The…
Trans Children's Rights in Custody Cases
The case of NK v AH, 2016 BCSC 744, created a heartening precedent for transgender children in BC. JK, the child of NK and AH, was receiving gender affirming medical intervention to prevent the onset of puberty. He had already socially transitioned to express as a boy. His father was opposed to the treatments and the transition. The father applied to the courts for an order barring any further treatments and ending all contact between JK…