This article studies judges’ early treatment of a new law on parentage and assisted reproduction. During decades of legislative inaction, Ontario’s judges adapted the law to evolving familial practices, at times boldly. A legislative overhaul in 2016, aiming to recognize all children’s families equally and inclusively, raised the question whether judges would adopt a more restrained role post-reform. In two early cases, where the new conditions for automatic recognition of a parental arrangement were unmet, the judges emphasized the intention of involved adults. Closely reading the legislation, the article presents bases for deciding the cases otherwise and for reducing their potential to incentivize litigation. Where the legislature has set out a broad range of accessible paths to parentage, even judges who champion family diversity may have reasons to stick to those paths. For legislative drafters, the difficulty of anticipating the variety of contemporary forms of family may counsel against purporting to limit judicial discretion. Ontario’s experience also favours including transitional measures in major reform.

中文翻译：

---

一位父母，三位父母：法官和安大略全家平等法，2016年

本文研究法官对育儿和辅助生殖新法律的早期处理。在数十年的立法无作为期间，安大略省的法官有时大胆地将法律修改为适应不断发展的家庭习俗。2016年的一项立法改革旨在平等和包容性地承认所有儿童家庭，提出了一个问题，即法官在改革后是否会采取更加克制的角色。在两个早期案例中，自动识别父母安排的新条件尚未得到满足，法官强调了涉案成年人的意图。仔细阅读该法律，该文章提供了以其他方式决定案件并减少其激发诉讼潜力的基础。立法机关规定了广泛的育儿途径，即使是倡导家庭多元化的法官，也可能有理由坚持这些做法。对于立法起草者而言，难以预见当代家庭形式的多样性可能会建议不要限制司法自由裁量权。安大略省的经验还倾向于在重大改革中包括过渡措施。