Shurlee Swain Bücher

Focusing on the historical treatment of single mothers in Australia, this comprehensive account spans from the 1850s to 1975, highlighting societal expectations and economic challenges faced by women without male providers. It explores themes of abandonment, infanticide, and the gradual recognition of single mothers through state benefits. The authors utilize diverse sources, including interviews and court records, to tell a poignant story of survival amidst stigma and punishment. This work significantly enriches the understanding of social, welfare, and women's history in Australia.

The book explores the evolution of the Family Court of Australia since its establishment in 1976, focusing on the implementation of no-fault divorce. Through interviews with judges, counselors, and family lawyers involved in the Court's formative years, it provides insights into the social implications and legal reforms that shaped family law in Australia. The narrative highlights the challenges and successes of the Court as a pioneering institution in addressing modern family dynamics.

The Market in Babies: Stories of Australian Adoption tells the history of adoption in Australia from its beginnings in the nineteenth century to its decline at the beginning of the twenty-first. The authors find that a market in babies has long existed. In the early years supply outstripped demand: needy babies were hard to place. Mid-twentieth century supply and demand grew together, with adoption presented as the perfect solution to two social problems: infertility and illegitimacy. Supply declined in the 1970s and demand turned to new global markets. Now these markets are closing, but technology provides new opportunities and Australians are acquiring babies through the surrogacy markets of India and the United States. As the rate of adoptions in Australia falls to an historic low, and parliaments across the country are apologising to parents and adoptees for the pain caused by past practices, this book identifies an historical continuum between the past and the present, and challenges the view that the best interests of the child can ever be protected in an environment where the market in babies is allowed to flourish. The authors of The Market in Babies are long-established scholars expert in the history of the family, welfare history and the making of public policy in Australia.