Fatherless families: How important is genetic relatedness?

Monash Bioethics Review 21 (3):18-29 (2002)
  Copy   BIBTEX

Abstract

How should families be constructed? Does it matter if we choose to ignore ‘blood ties’ and raise children without their genetic parents? The debate over a recent court ruling allowing single and lesbian women access to assisted reproductive technologies (ART’s) illustrates two possible answers to this question. Many of those opposed to the ruling argue that the traditional biological family is the natural family unit and the ideal family form, which should be preserved. Amongst those in favour it is argued that families are not defined by nature but culturally constructed, that the traditional biological family is just one possible family form and that the way families are arranged is a matter of personal preference. This paper argues that questions about the importance of preserving the biological family rest largely on the value we attribute to genetic relatedness and not on whether the family is a natural or cultural construct. I argue against the claim that genetic relatedness and biological families are so important to children’s welfare that lesbian and single women should be denied access to ARTs.

Links

PhilArchive



    Upload a copy of this work     Papers currently archived: 90,616

External links

Setup an account with your affiliations in order to access resources via your University's proxy server

Through your library

Similar books and articles

Who cares where you come from? cultivating virtues of indifference.Hallvard Lillehammer - 2014 - In Tabitha Freeman Susanna Graham & Fatemeh Ebtehaj Martin Richards (eds.), Relatedness in Assisted Reproduction: families, origins and identities. Cambridge University Press. pp. 97-112.
Gene Mobility and the Concept of Relatedness.Jonathan Birch - 2014 - Biology and Philosophy 29 (4):445-476.
Familial Communication of Research Results: A Need to Know?Lee Black & Kelly A. McClellan - 2011 - Journal of Law, Medicine and Ethics 39 (4):605-613.

Analytics

Added to PP
2014-03-14

Downloads
17 (#742,076)

6 months
4 (#319,344)

Historical graph of downloads
How can I increase my downloads?

Author's Profile

Giuliana Fuscaldo
Deakin University

Citations of this work

Add more citations

References found in this work

No references found.

Add more references