Over 100 delegates from 21 countries (22 if you count Scotland) met in Bonn in July 2014 for the first international conference on Shared Parenting.

Lawyers, academics and members of family support organisations heard about research into the benefits of shared parenting for children and how family law across the world is starting to move away from the sole residence model towards joint parental responsibility as the norm after separation.

Professor Edward Kruk, first president of the International Council on Shared Parenting (ICSP), stated the conference aims as developing evidence-based approaches to the needs and rights of children whose parents are living apart. 

He described the strong public support for shared parenting, which has helped to achieve legislative change such as the new Swiss law, although opposition from the Canadian Bar Association scuppered Canadian Bill C-560 in May 2014 at second reading. The Bill sought to apply the principle of equal parenting as default for judges making parenting orders.

This shift towards shared parenting was also mentioned by Dr Ned Holstein from the American National Parents Organisation in a message of welcome.  He suggested that we now have a critical mass of research data showing how children benefit from shared parenting, and now should explore how to make it work for parents in conflict, how effective it is in preventing parental alienation, and how shared parenting can best be applied for never-married parents.

Although the conference mood was overwhelmingly optimistic, with consensus on key issues, the real challenge will lie in convincing the judiciary and politicians that things need to change.  The ICSP will continue its work to develop evidence-based approaches to the needs and rights of children whose parents are living apart.  Some key themes of the conferernce are described in the following articles.