Gillian Bentley is a biological anthropologist and reproductive ecologist and a Royal Society Research Fellow at University College London. Her prior work focused on explaining why different human populations occupying a range of environments have varying levels of reproductive hormones. She now directs projects that interface with reproduction and reproductive health, working with the migrant Bangladeshi community in London. Recent publications include Infertility in the Modern World: Present and Future Prospects, edited with C.G.N. Mascie-Taylor (Cambridge University Press, 2000).

• PrefacePrologueSarah HardyIntroductionGillian R. Bentley and Ruth MacePART I: ALLOPARENTAL STRATEGIESChapter 1. Biological basis of alloparental behaviour in animalsNancy G. Solomon and Loren D. HayesChapter 2. Family matters: kin, demography and child health in a rural Gambian populationRebecca Sear and Ruth MaceChapter 3. Does it take a family to raise a child? Cooperative breeding in humans using the example of Maya subsistence agriculturalistsKaren L. KramerChapter 4. Changing times for the Argentine Toba: Who cares for the baby now?Claudia ValeggiaChapter 5. Who minds the baby? Beng perspectives on mothers, neighbours, and strangers as caretakersAlma GottliebChapter 6. Economic perspectives on alloparentingGillian PaullChapter 7. The school as parentBerry MayallChapter 8. The parenting and substitute parenting of young childrenHelen PennChapter 9. Adoption, adopters and adopted childrenDavid HoweChapter 10. Surrogacy: The experiences of commissioning couples and surrogate mothersEmma LycettPART II: THE EFFECT OF ALLOPARENTING ON CHILDRENChapter 11. Alloparenting in the context of HIV/AIDS in southern Africa: Complex strategies for CareLorraine van Blerk and Nicola AnsellChapter 12. Alloparenting and the ontogeny of HPA stress response among stepchildrenMark V. FlinnChapter 13. Separation stress in early childhood: Harmless side effect of modern caregiving practices or risk factor for development?Joachim BenselChapter 14. Quality, quantity and type Of child care: Effects on child development in the USAJay BelskyChapter 15. ‘It feels normal that other people are split up but not YOUR Mum and Dad’: Divorce through the Eyes of ChildrenMargaret RobinsonBibliographyIndex

“[This book] brings together high-quality papers from many different fields: endocrinology, evolutionary biology, demography, economics, psychology, sociology, anthropology… It can be seen as a practical tool for researchers in the field, and it provides a large amount of data across a wide range of populations and helps to find a common ground between theories emerging from different fields. It is the kind of book that will never end up in the last dusty row of your shelves because you will continually refer to it, picking up here and there empirical and theoretical data for the next decades.”  ·  BioOne. Research Evolved