Fiona Kelly, PhD, LLM, LLB, BA

Dean, Faculty of Law

Contact Overview Publications

Contact

Dean, Faculty of Law

Email: deanoflaw@ualberta.ca
Phone: (780) 492-5590
Address: 487 Law Centre
8820 - 111 St NW

Edmonton AB

T6G 2H5

Overview

Area of Study / Keywords

Family Law health law assisted reproduction donor linking

About

Professor Kelly is the Dean of the University of Alberta, Faculty of Law. She holds a BA and LLB (Hons) from the University of Melbourne and an LLM and PhD from the University of British Columbia. Prior to becoming Dean at UAlberta, Professor Kelly was Dean of La Trobe University Law School in Melbourne, Australia. Professor Kelly is a law and society scholar whose research interests are primarily in the areas of Family Law and Health Law, with a particular focus on the legal regulation of assisted reproduction. She has published extensively in Canadian and international journals on a variety of topics, including the legal regulation of parentage in the context of assisted reproduction and the judicial and legislative treatment of lesbian and single mother by choice families. Her research has had significant impact on family law reform in both Canada and Australia, including reforms to British Columbia's Family Law Act which became the first legislation in the world to recognize families with more than two parents. Professor Kelly has held research grants in both Canada and Australia. Most recently, she led an Australian Research Council ARC Discovery Project grant, "Families of Strangers? The socio-legal implications of donor linking”, which explored the impact of donor linking – the process whereby donor-conceived people, donors and recipient parents access each other’s identity – on individual and familial identities and relationships. Professor Kelly has served on a number of Boards, including the Victorian Assisted Reproduction Treatment Authority (VARTA) and the Alberta Law Reform Institute.

Featured Publications

“Should court authorisation be required for surgery on intersex children? A critique of the Family Court decision in Re Carla”. Australian Journal of Family Law

Fiona Kelly & Malcolm Smith

2023 December; 31 (2):118-133 10.3316/agispt.20180109

“Recipient Parents Using Do-It-Yourself Methods to Make Early Contact with Donor Relatives: Is There Still a Place for Law?” in Kelly, Dempsey & Byrt (eds), Donor-Linked Families in the Digital Age: Relatedness and Regulation

Fiona Kelly

Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 2023 July; 10.1017/9781009008129.002

Donor—Linked Families in the Digital Age: Relatedness and Regulation

Fiona Kelly, Deborah Dempsey & Adrienne Burt (eds). 2023

Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 2023 July; 10.1017/9781009008129

“Donor-Conceived Families: Relatedness and Regulation in the Digital Age” in Kelly, Dempsey & Byrt (eds), Donor-Linked Families in the Digital Age: Relatedness and Regulation

Fiona Kelly & Deborah Dempsey

Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 2023 July; 10.1017/9781009008129.001

“The Contact Expectations of Australian Sperm Donors Who Connect with Recipients Via Online Platforms” in Kelly, Dempsey & Byrt (eds), Donor-Linked Families in the Digital Age: Relatedness and Regulation

Cal Volks & Fiona Kelly

Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 2023 July; 10.1017/9781009008129

“Donor Linking in the Digital Age: Where to Next?” in Kelly, Dempsey & Byrt (eds), Donor-Linked Families in the Digital Age: Relatedness and Regulation

Fiona Kelly, Deborah Dempsey & Adrienne Byrt

Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 2023 July; 10.1017/9781009008129

“Beyond secrecy and openness: telling a relational story about children’s best interests in donor- conceived families”, BioSocieties vol 17, no. 3

Deborah Dempsey, Petra Nordqvist, Fiona Kelly

BioSocieties. 2022 September; 10.1057/s41292-020-00220-6

"Secret Shame - Male Infertility and Donor Conception in the Wake of Retrospective Legislative Change", Men and Masculinities vol. 25. No. 3

Barbara Cosson, Deborah Dempsey & Fiona Kelly

SageJournals. 2022 August;

"Parental consent and the treatment of transgender youth: the impact of Re Imogen - Reply", Medical Journal of Australia vol. 217, no.3.

Ken Pang, Fiona Kelly & Simona Giordano

2022 August; 10.5694/mja2.51640

"Reforming the Law on Consent to Medical Treatment for Trans Youth: A Renewed Call for Legislative Intervention", Laws, vol. 11, no. 4;

Steph Jowett, Georgina Dimopolous & Fiona Kelly

2022 July; 10.3390/laws11040056

“Children’s right to know their genetic origins? A Comparative Analysis of Approaches to Donor Linking” in Melissa Breger (ed.), Exploring Norms and Family Law Across the Globe

Fiona Kelly

New York: Lexington Books. 2022 March;

“Parental consent and the treatment of transgender youth: the impact of Re Imogen”

Fiona Kelly, Simona Giordano, Michelle Telfer & Ken Pang

Medical Journal of Australia, vol. 216. No. 5; 219-221. 2022 March;

Deb Dempsey, Jennifer Power & Fiona Kelly

"A perfect storm of intervention? Lesbian and cisgender queer women conceiving through Australian fertility clinics", Critical Public Health, vol. 32, no. 2

Taylor & Francis. 2022 January; 10.1080/09581596.2020.1810636

“Victoria’s egg and sperm bank will reduce the risks of seeking donors online. Here’s why it’s needed”, The Conversation (online), (4743 readers)

Fiona Kelly

2021 May;

“Re Imogen: A step in the wrong direction”, Australian Journal of Family Law vol. 34

Stephanie Jowett & Fiona Kelly

LexisNexis. 2021 May;

“On the Margins: The Experiences of Single Women Who Conceive at Australian Fertility Clinics” in Berit Åström & Disa Bergnehr (eds), Single Parents Representations and Resistance in an International Context

Fiona Kelly

Switzerland: Palgrave Macmillan. 2021 March; 10.1007/978-3-030-71311-9

"Use of fertility services in Australian lesbian, bisexual and queer women's pathways to parenthood", Australian and New Zealand Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology vol. 60, no. 4

Jennifer Power, Deborah Dempsey, Fiona Kelly & Melanie Lau

2020 May; 10.1111/ajo.13175

“Applications to statutory donor registers in Victoria, Australia: information sought and expectations of contact”. Reproductive Biomedicine & Society Online

Deborah Dempsey, Fiona Kelly, Briony Horsfall, Kate Bourne, Karin Hammarberg & Louise Johnson

2019 December; 9 10.1016/j.rbms.2019.08.002

“From stranger to family or something in between: donor linking in an era of retrospective access to anonymous sperm donor records in Victoria, Australia”. International Journal of Law Policy & the Family

Fiona Kelly, Deborah Dempsey, Jennifer Power, Kate Bourne, Karin Hammarberg & Louise Johnson

2019 December; 33 (3):277-297

“Legal parentage and assisted conception following the High Court’s decision in Masson v Parsons” Australian Journal of Family Law

Fiona Kelly & Hannah Robert

2019 December; 33 (2):144-159

“High Court judgment still leaves donor- conceived families in limbo about who is a legal parent”, The Conversation (online) (5250 readers)

Hannah Robert & Fiona Kelly

2019 June;

“Sperm donation is testing what it means to be a legal parent, all the way to the High Court”, The Conversation (online) (47,167 readers)

Hannah Robert & Fiona Kelly

2019 January;

“How do single mothers by choice promote the health and wellbeing of their donor conceived children and what role should law play?”. QUT Law Review

Fiona Kelly

2019 January; 18 (2):28-43 10.5204/qutlr.v18i2.758

"The Donor Linking Practices of Australian Fertility Clinics". Journal of Law & Medicine, vol. 27, no. 2

Fiona Kelly, Charlotte Frew, Deborah Dempsey

Thomson-Reuters. 2019 January; 27 (2):355-368

“Autonomous motherhood in the era of donor linking: new challenges and constraints?” Canadian Journal of Family Law

Fiona Kelly

2019 January; 32

“‘Exactly the same rights’? Comparing the legal benefits of marriage and de facto relationships” in Quinn Eades & Son Vivienne (eds), Going Postal: More than Yes or No

Hannah Robert & Fiona Kelly

Melbourne: Brow Books. 2018 November;

“Why removing sex from birth certificates matters to gender diverse people” The Conversation (online) (38,719 readers)

Fiona Kelly & Hannah Robert

2018 October;

“Transgender adolescents and legal reform: How improved access to healthcare was achieved through medical, legal and community collaboration”. Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health

Michelle Telfer, Fiona Kelly, Debi Feldman, Georgie Stone, Rebekah Robertson & Zeffie Poulakis

2018 October; 54 (10):1096-1099 10.1111/jpc.14124

The History of Donor Conception Records in Victoria, Victorian Assisted Reproductive Treatment Authority, Melbourne

Fiona Kelly & Deborah Dempsey

2018 February;

“Transgender youth can now access hormone treatment without court approval” (7338 readers)

Fiona Kelly & Penelope Strauss

2017 December;

“Should the Family Court have to approve hormone treatment for transgender teens?” The Conversation (online) (12,295 readers)

Fiona Kelly

2017 September;

“What benefits do married couples have that de facto couples do not?” The Conversation (online) (410,599 readers)

Hannah Robert & Fiona Kelly

2017 September;

"Is there still no room for two mothers? Revisiting lesbian mother litigation in post-reform Australian family law". Australian Journal of Family Law

Fiona Kelly, Hannah Robert & Jennifer Power

2017 July; 31 (1):1-19 10.3316/agispt.20173463

"Experiences and Motives of Australian Single Mother's by Choice who Make Early Contact with their Child's Donor Relatives". Medical Law Review

Fiona Kelly & Deborah Dempsey

2017 January; 24 (4):571-590 10.1093/medlaw/fww038

"Is it time to tell? Abolishing donor anonymity in Canada". Canadian Journal of Family Law

Fiona Kelly

2017 January; 30 (2):173-226

“Transnational third-party assisted conception: pursuing the desire for ‘origins’ information in the Internet era” in Miranda Davies (ed.), Global Babies: Transnational surrogacy and the new politics of reproduction

Deborah Dempsey & Fiona Kelly

London: Zed Books. 2017 January;

“The family law implications of early contact between sperm donors and their donor offspring”. Family Matters

Fiona Kelly & Deborah Dempsey

2016 November; 98

“What treatment do young children receive for gender dysphoria and is it irreversible?” The Conversation (online) (12,951 readers)

Fiona Kelly

2016 September;

"The Court Process is Slow but Biology is Fast': Assessing the impact of the Family Court approval process on transgender children and their families". Australian Journal of Family Law

Fiona Kelly

2016 June; 30 (2):112-128 10.2139/ssrn.2793664

“As Victoria opens sperm donor records, the key question is: do contact vetoes work?” The Conversation (online), (2,875 readers)

Fiona Kelly & Deborah Dempsey

2015 December;

“Australian Children living with Gender Dysphoria: Does the Family Court have a role to play?” Journal of Law and Medicine

Fiona Kelly

2014 September; 22 (1):105-120

“One of these Families is Not Like the Others: The Legal Response to Non-Normative Queer Parenting in Canada”. Alberta Law Review

Fiona Kelly

2013 January; 51 (1):1-22 10.29173/alr55

“Equal Parents, Equal Children: Reforming Canada’s Parentage Laws to Recognize the Completeness of Women-led Families”. University of New Brunswick Law Journal

Fiona Kelly

2013 January; 64

“Enforcing a Parent/Child Relationship At All Cost? Supervised Access Orders in the Canadian Courts”. Osgoode Hall Law Journal

Fiona Kelly

2012 July; 49 (2):277-309

“Autonomous Motherhood and the Law: Exploring the Narratives of Canada’s Single Mothers by Choice”. Canadian Journal of Family Law

Fiona Kelly

2012 January; 28 (1):63-104

“Autonomous from the Start: Single Mothers by Choice in the Canadian Legal System”. Child and Family Law Quarterly

Fiona Kelly

2012 January; 24 (3):257-283

Transforming Law’s Family: The Legal Recognition of Planned Lesbian Motherhood

Fiona Kelly

Vancouver: UBC Press. 2011 May;

“An Alternative Conception: The Legality of Home Insemination under Canada's Assisted Human Reproduction Act”. Canadian Journal of Family Law

Fiona Kelly

2010 January; 26

“De-Anonymising Sperm Donors in Canada: Some Doubts and Directions”. Canadian Journal of Family Law

Angela Cameron, Vanessa Gruben & Fiona Kelly

2010 January; 26 (1):95-148

“Losing the Child in Child-Centred Legal Processes” in Mona Gleason & Tamara Myers, Leslie Paris and Veronica Strong-Boag, eds., Lost Kids: Vulnerable Children and Youth in Twentieth-Century Canada and the United States

Cindy Baldassi, Susan Boyd & Fiona Kelly

Vancouver: UBC Press. 2009 November;

“Producing Paternity: The Role of Legal Fatherhood in Maintaining the Traditional Family”. Canadian Journal of Women and the Law

Fiona Kelly

2009 October; 21 (2):315-351 10.3138/cjwl.21.2.315

“Private Law Responses to Domestic Violence: The Intersection of Family Law and Tort” in Louise Bélanger-Hardy, Sanda Rodgers & Rakhi Ruparelia, eds., Critical Torts

Fiona Kelly

Toronto: Lexis-Nexis. (republished in the Supreme Court Law Review, 2009. vol. 44, 321-341). 2009 February;

“Custody and access decision-making and the breastfeeding child: Cavannah v Johne, [2008] O.J. No. 5027”. Canadian Journal of Family Law

Fiona Kelly

2009 January; 25 (1):133-153 10.1177/008124631104100208

“Severing the Link Between Marriage and Children's Best Interests: a Canadian Case Study”. Equal Opportunities International

Fiona Kelly

2009 January; 28 (3):267-279

“(Re)forming Parenthood: The Assignment of Legal Parentage Within Planned Lesbian Families”. Ottawa Law Review

Fiona Kelly

2009 January; 40 (2):185-222

“Before You Host a Party Read This: Social Host Liability and the Decision in Childs v Desormeaux”. UBC Law Review

Fiona Kelly

2006 January; 39 (2):371-388

“(Mis)placed Justice: Justice, Care and Reforming the ‘Best Interests of the Child’ Principle in Canadian Child Custody and Access Law” in Law Commission of Canada, ed., The “Place” of Justice.

Fiona Kelly

Winnipeg: Fernwood Publishing. 2006 January;

“Conceptualizing the Child Through an ‘Ethic of Care’: Lessons for Family Law”. International Journal of Law in Context

Fiona Kelly

2005 January; 1 (4):375-396

“In Search of a Father: Sperm Donors, Lesbian-headed Families, and the Re Patrick Case” in Heather Grace Jones & Dr. Maggie Kirkman (eds.), Sperm Wars: The Rights and Wrongs of Reproduction

Fiona Kelly

Sydney: ABC Books. 2005 January;

“The F Word(s): A Five Part Conversation by Gen-X Feminists,” Atlantis: A Women’s Studies Journal

Kristina Llewellyn, Emma Cunliffe, Fiona Kelly, Tasha Riley & Sharon Wall

2005 January; 29 (3):57

“Nuclear Norms or Fluid Families: Incorporating Lesbian and Gay Parents and their Children into Canadian Family Law"

Fiona Kelly

2004 January; 21

“Australia’s Fragmented Family Law System: Jurisdictional Overlaps in the area of Child Protection”. International Journal of Law, Policy and the Family

Fiona Kelly & Belinda Fehlberg

2002 January; 16

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