A feature of forensic medicine is that it crosses both medical and legal boundaries. The increasing complexity of modern medicine and the changing attitudes of patients to the provision of medical care dictate the need for a corresponding increase in forensic medical knowledge. This is particularly true in the case of paediatric forensic medicine and pathology. Children are not simply small adults. They have their special medico-legal problems just as they need a distinct clinical expertise. The medico-legal problems of childhood, including the very topical subjects of assisted reproduction and of child abuse, are worldwide. The editor has had an opportunity to combine legal and medical experience and has introduced a format in forensic medical writing whereby doctors and lawyers contribute to distinctive parts of the whole work. As a result the book should appeal to practitioners in both professions who are concerned with the medico-legal aspects of reproduction, infancy and childhood.