An email lands from an old friend: ‘The other day, we went to a wedding where my friend, a single mother, took the traditional role of a father and walked her daughter down the aisle to give her away. It set me wondering, in this age of same sex marriages and gender fluidity, what approach same-sex parents might adopt in the same situation? A bride with two dads? A bride with two mums?’

This old friend, I should add, is gay and has been with his husband for nearly 50 years. They were one of the first couples to become civil partners, on the first day it was allowed by UK law in 2005. They were also one of the first couples to convert this partnership to marriage, when that was allowed nine years later. So he’s well placed to pose such a question and is coming at it from a place of genuine

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