Parents’ Rights and the Value of the Family

Sufficientarian Parenting Must be Child-Centered

“…Moreover, custodians command an unusually high level of power over children. Some philosophers working on issues of justice in childrearing have considered whether, given these facts about children and childrearing, it can ever be permissible for suboptimal parents to be in charge of children's fates when better parents are available (Vallentyne 2002;Brighouse and Swift 2006;Hannan and Vernon 2008;Gheaus 2012;Brighouse and Swift 2014. ) This is the literature about the grounds of the right to parent, and most of it discusses the question of how the right is acquired: (why) do adults who would make suboptimal parents have an entitlement to be parents?…”

“…This is the core of a child-centered account of the right to parent (Vallentyne 2003). One dual-interest theory attempts to resist this conclusion by claiming that many, or most, people, can only have fully flourishing lives if they have a chance to parent (Brighouse and Swift 2006;2014). Another version of the dual-interest account explains departures form a child-centered account by noting that "child" and "parent" are periods within the life of the same individuals, and claiming that the loss that we incur as children by having non-optimal parents is more than made up for by the gains we enjoy by having the right to parent (Clayton 2006).…”

The Medical Nonnecessity of In Vitro Fertilization

“…Many philosophers, including me, would also reject it. Some of these philosophers accept that parenting is very important for many people (although not for everyone); however, according to them, the goods of parenting do not require procreation (e.g., Brighouse and Swift 2006;Brighouse and Swift 2014;De Wispelaere and Weinstock 2014;Overall 2014). One can have these goods through adoption, for example.…”

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“…Die Grundlage für einen Anspruch auf Vereinbarkeit bilden zwei gewichtige Interessen von Eltern: Das Interesse am Zugang zur Erwerbstätigkeit und das Interesse an der Eltern-Kind-Beziehung. In der Begründung des letzteren beziehe ich mich auf die ‚familial relationship goods'-Theorie (im Folgenden als ‚Theorie der familiären Güter' bezeichnet) von Harry Brighouse und Adam Swift (2006 Neben den kurzfristigen Effekten der Nichterwerbstätig-keit auf die materielle Sicherung sind zudem auch langfristige Effekte zu beachten, die anhalten, nachdem wieder eine Erwerbstätigkeit aufgenommen wurde. Eine deutsche Studie aus dem Jahr 2010 kam zum Schluss, dass "Abweichungen von der Normalerwerbsbiografie in Form verschiedener Erwerbsunterbrechungen nicht nur kurz-und mittelfristig, sondern auch langfristig negative finanzielle Auswirkungen haben" (Strauß und Ebert 2010, 227).…”