builds upon the authors' conclusions that custody evaluations cannot and should not be a substitute for the socio-legal judgment of the best interests of the child. Recognizing that clinical humility and judicial vigilance may not be sufficient to restrain the misuse of psychological evaluation, we offer for consideration three structural changes that would provide for a more appropriate use of the skills and talents custody evaluators bring to legal decisions. We suggest using custody evaluators in the less adversarial setting of preparing parenting plans, revising the procedures by which custody evaluations are elicited in litigation, and adopting the approximation standard for child custody determinations.Tippins and Wittmann provide much food for thought about why we have come to the present situation and what we can do about it. In the first instance, they make a very persuasive case for the exclusion of forensic psychological assessments on the ultimate questions presented in disputed child custody cases. Their conclusions appear to be based on two general theories: first, there is simply no reliable scientific basis for making such determinations, and second, the best interest standard currently used by the courts is not a psychological construct but rather a legal and socio-moral one. As to the first point, they make a compelling case for the lack of empirical research sufficient to make these judgments and we are not prepared to dispute those findings. Rather, as lawyers and law professors, it is the second basis for their conclusion that raises more interesting questions.
Some pregnancies today involve infertile individuals or couples who contract with a fertile woman to carry a pregnancy for them. The woman who carries the pregnancy is referred to as a "gestational carrier." The use of such arrangements is increasing. Most of the time, these arrangements play out as planned; sometimes, however, problems arise. This article discusses a case in which a fetal diagnosis of spina bifida led the infertile couple to request that the gestational carrier terminate the pregnancy, and the gestational carrier did not wish to do so. Experts in the medical and legal issues surrounding surrogacy discuss the considerations that should go into resolving such a conflict.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.