About

Professor Courtney G. Joslin is a Distinguished Professor of Law at UC Davis School of Law. She teaches in the areas of Constitutional Law, Employment Discrimination, Family Law, and Sexuality, Gender, and the Law. Professor Joslin is a leading expert in family and relationship recognition, with a particular focus on same-sex and unmarried couples. Her scholarly work has been published or is forthcoming in numerous prestigious law reviews, including Boston University Law Review, California Law Review, Columbia Law Review, Harvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review, NYU Law Review, and Yale Law Journal Forum, among others. She is a co-author of two widely used textbooks, 'Sexuality, Gender, and the Law' and 'Modern Family Law.' Her commentary has appeared in major outlets such as the Washington Post, LA Times, Sacramento Bee, and Slate. Professor Joslin has received multiple awards for her scholarship and teaching, including the Dukeminier Award twice, the 2011 AALS New Voices in Gender Studies Paper Competition, and the 2024 UC Davis Distinguished Scholarly Public Service Award. She served as the Reporter for the Uniform Parentage Act (2017) and is an elected member of the American Law Institute. She earned her undergraduate degree from Brown University and her J.D. from Harvard Law School, where she was an executive editor of the Harvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review.

Research topics

• Political Science
• Sociology
• Computer Science
• Artificial Intelligence
• Law
• Business
• Psychology
• Law and economics
• Medicine

Selected publications

• 25 The High Stakes of Gamete Regulation in a Post-Dobbs World

  New York University Press eBooks · 2025-08-20

  book-chapter1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Multiparenthood

  SSRN Electronic Journal · 2024-01-01 · 2 citations

  preprintOpen accessSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• The High Stakes of Gamete Regulation in a Post-Dobbs World

  SSRN Electronic Journal · 2024-01-01

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Adoption, Joint and Second-Parent

  The SAGE Encyclopedia of LGBTQ Studies · 2024-01-01

  reference-entry1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Divorce, Legal Issues in

  The SAGE Encyclopedia of LGBTQ Studies · 2024-01-01

  reference-entry1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Social Parenthood in Comparative Perspective

  New York University Press eBooks · 2023 · 2 citations

  Senior authorCorresponding
  • Sociology
  • Sociology
  • Psychology

  Investigates social parents – people who function as parents but who may not be recognized as such in the eyes of the law What makes a person a parent? Around the world, same-sex couples are raising children; parents are separating and re-partnering, creating blended families; and children are living with grandparents, family friends, and other caregivers. In these situations, there is often an adult who acts like a parent but who is unconnected to the child through biogenetics, marriage, or adoption—the common paths for establishing legal parenthood. In many countries, this person is called a “social parent.” Psychologically, and especially from a child’s point of view, a social parent is a parent. But the legal status of a social parent is hotly debated. Social Parenthood in Comparative Perspective considers how the law does—and how it should—recognize social parenthood. The book begins with a psychological account of social parenthood, establishing the importance of a relationship between a child and a social parent and the harms of not protecting this relationship. It then turns to social scientists to identify and explore some circumstances when a child may have a social parent. And to compare legal responses to social parenthood, the book draws on the expertise of legal scholars in nine countries in North America and Europe. The legal contributors describe the existing laws governing social parents, critique their efficacy, and offer new insights. Though almost all of the countries analyzed have adapted to the new reality of family life by recognizing social parents in some manner, the nature and extent of the recognition varies widely. The volume concludes by discussing some of the issues flowing from the decision to recognize social parents, including whether social parents should have the same legal rights and responsibilities as other legal parents, whether all social parents must be treated identically, whether the law should limit a child to two parents, and much more. Families are changing, and the law must adapt accordingly. Social Parenthood in Comparative Perspective charts a way forward by offering solutions to help policymakers consider options for addressing social parenthood.

  DOI

• 7 Social Parenthood in the United States

  New York University Press eBooks · 2023-07-13 · 1 citations

  book-chapter1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Introduction

  New York University Press eBooks · 2023-07-13

  book-chapter
  PublisherDOI

• Conclusion: The Future of Social Parenthood

  New York University Press eBooks · 2023-07-13

  book-chapter
  PublisherDOI

• Gamete Regulation and Family Protection in a Post-Dobbs World

  SSRN Electronic Journal · 2023 · 1 citations

  1st authorCorresponding
  • Political Science
  • Sociology
  • Law
  PublisherDOI

Frequent coauthors

• Joan Heifetz Hollinger

  6 shared

• Sharon McGowan

  Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists

  3 shared

• Clare Huntington

  3 shared

• Nan D. Hunter

  3 shared

• Douglas NeJaime

  3 shared

• Christiane von Bary

  3 shared

• Laura T. Kessler

  Chicago Kent College of Law

  2 shared

• Lawrence C. Levine

  2 shared

Awards & honors

• Dukeminier Award for her Articles Protecting Children(?) and…
• 2011 AALS New Voices in Gender Studies Paper Competition
• Distinguished Scholarly Public Service Award from UC Davis (…
• 2023 Distinguished Teaching Award
• UC Davis Distinguished Scholarly Public Service Award (2024)