Stephen Whittle, Sarah Rutherford and their new baby twins A family in every meaningful sense of the word

A story to capture the heart and the imagination but which shatters conventional paradigms

In a society in which the average marriage is expected to last no more than seven years … where two out of three school-age children will experience divorce before adulthood … where each day’s news brings stories of violence and neglect of young children … this family stands out as a shining model of love, care and committment.

The law may bicker and prevaricate over whether Stephen Whittle is a father, but ordinary decent people need no telling.

In a world which desperately needs role models embodying stability and integrity, and some proof that the essence of humanity goes deeper than mere flesh, you really need look no further than this couple and their family.

On Tuesday April 22nd, 1997 twenty European judges may have demonstrated their command of the law, but their clinical conclusion brings shame and disrepute upon their profession.

This Press for Change special feature brings together coverage of the Whittle family’s struggle to be recognised as just that - a family, together with legal analysis of the case as it comes in.