Multi-Partner Fertility in a Disadvantaged Population: Results and Policy Implications of an Empirical Investigation of Paternity Actions in St. Joseph County, Indiana

Authors

Margaret Brinig, Notre Dame Law SchoolFollow
Marsha Garrison, Brooklyn Law School

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2019

Publication Information

52 Fam. L.Q. 27 (2019)

Abstract

In this paper, we report data on multi-partner fertility (MPF) in a population of children and parents for whom paternity actions were brought, in 2008 or 2010, in St. Joseph County, Indiana. The computerized, court-based record system we utilized enabled us to collect information on parental characteristics and child outcomes that other MPF researchers have been unable to access. Our research thus offers a unique, data-rich window into an important, and growing, aspect of contemporary family life. It also points the way to needed shifts in family policy and law.

Recommended Citation

Margaret Brinig & Marsha Garrison, Multi-Partner Fertility in a Disadvantaged Population: Results and Policy Implications of an Empirical Investigation of Paternity Actions in St. Joseph County, Indiana, 52 Fam. L.Q. 27 (2019).
Available at: https://scholarship.law.nd.edu/law_faculty_scholarship/1354