PARENTHOOD AND CHOICE: Maggie Gallagher and David Blankenhorn

Maggie Gallagher writes: Think about this statement from Peggy Ornstein's NYT mag piece:

"The idea that parenthood is a cultural creation conferred not by biology but by choice isn't new. It's the premise behind adoption. 'Once you have legalized adoption, that's the end of the picture in terms of genetics,' says Leonard Glantz, professor of health law at the Boston University School of Public Health. 'It's a very broad statement of social policy by legislature that genetics and parenthood are different issues.'"

If this is the case, why are we hounding single fathers for child support? Did they intend or choose to create a child? 

Why is it uniquely men who are bound by biology while everyone else's parenthood is based on choice, not biology? Are we really going to be able to hang onto the idea that biology creates obligations under the new regime?

I note that when the Dept. of Health suggested changing Mass. birth certificates so they no longer read mother and fathers, it was Child Support Enforcement that objected.

David Blankenhorn adds: I [David] would add that it's simply ridiculous to assert, as Leonard Glantz does, that the practice of adoption in human societies means "the end of the picture in terms of genetics" -- that is, adoption means that being a parent has nothing to do with biological ties to the child.  What utter nonsense! Adoption as a social institution is almost as old as marriage itself, and like marriage, adoption is a nearly universal human institution, intended to provide a child with a married mother father in those cases in which one or more of the biological parents is either dead or unable to function as a parent.  And in the long, largely impressive history of this human institution, no one has ever -- until Leonard Glantz,  about two minutes ago -- seriously suggested that adoption negates or "means the end" of the concept that parenthood in human societies is fundamentally connected to biology.

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posted by Eve at 5:41 PM | link

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