Same Same but (fabulously) different

Min has four parents; Mum, Gailie, Dad and Deb. It's a complex arrangement in some ways but they've made it quite simple - put the child at the centre of all decisions and learn to give and take. Min is now 20 years old so when Jac and Gail (and Richard) decided to have a child together they were pioneers of rainbow families. In part two of the Min story, Gail, Minnie's other mum talks about the decision to have a child and her journey of motherhood. When Min was two years old, Gail and Jac separated and had to figure out how to navigate parenting in a whole new context.

Min has four parents; Mum, Gailie, Dad and Deb. It's a complex arrangement in some ways but they've made it quite simple - put the child at the centre of all decisions and learn to give and take. Min is now 20 years old so when Jac and Gail (and Richard) decided to have a child together they were pioneers of rainbow families. In part one of the Min story, Jac and Deb talk about the joys of raising a girl and the challenges of navigating a life, post decoupling and recoupling, where four parents cooperate to bring up the child they all love.

Meet Nick, father of 5-year-old Charlotte. Nick and Charlotte's mum overcame living in different continents and navigated multiple legal jurisdictions to have a child together. Now all in Australia, although not living together, their little family works a treat. Nick talks us through the challenges and obstacles they faced in their journey to become parents and shares the resulting joys of fatherhood.

Mark was a single man who by chance came across a lesbian couple who wanted to have children. After an awkward-ish interview with the girls, Mark knew it was absolutely the right thing for him to do. Mark and the mums-to-be quickly struck up a real friendship and now, some years later, this unit of three parents and two children is a loving, happy model of what an alternative family can be.

Ian is a donor dad who has 7 donor conceived children. He knows and remembers all of their birth dates and he's aware of the name of one of the children, but that's all he knows. In this episode of Same Same but (fabulously) Different we hear a perspective we don't often get to hear; that of the unknown donor.