Two questions precede any considerations of reproductive genetics and gender. They are “Should people have children to begin with?” and “Who is responsible for children and why?” If it is irrational or immoral to produce offspring, as I have suggested elsewhere [1–3], reproductive genetics turns out to be a waste of time and gendered family roles obsolete. Tom Buller examines critically my views on this in Chapter 11. If, again, some people are more responsible for children than others, this should be made visible in the allocation of child-related burdens in society. In what follows, I offer some general comments regarding this second question for further discussion.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Häyry, Matti. 2004. A rational cure for pre-reproductive stress syndrome. Journal of Medical Ethics 30: 377–378.
Häyry, Matti. 2005. The rational cure for prereproductive stress syndrome revisited. Journal of Medical Ethics 31: 606–607.
Häyry, Matti. 2009. An analysis of some arguments for and against human reproduction. In Arguments and Analysis in Bioethics, Matti Häyry, Tuija Takala, Peter Herissone-Kelly, and Gardar Árnason (eds.) pp. 167–175. Amsterdam and New York: Rodopi.
Aquinas, Thomas. 1988. (orig. 1265–1272). On Law, Morality and Politics, W. P. Baumgarth and R. J. Regan (eds.) pp. 47–48. Indianapolis and Cambridge: Hackett Publishing Company.
Kant, Immanuel. 1887. (orig. 1796). The Philosophy of Law: An Exposition of the Fundamental Principles of Jurisprudence as the Science of Right. Edinburgh: T. and T. Clark. Trans. by W. Hastie. http://oll.libertyfund.org/?option=com_staticxt&staticfile=show.php&%3Ftitle=359&chapter=55777&layout=html&Itemid=27. Accessed 5 February 2008.
Kant, Immanuel. 1994. (orig. 1797). The Metaphysical Principles of Virtue. Indianapolis and Cambridge: Hackett Publishing Company. In Immanuel Kant, Ethical Philosophy (second edition), 97. Trans. by James W. Ellington.
Häyry, Matti. 1994. Liberal Utilitarianism and Applied Ethics. London and New York: Routledge.
Häyry, Matti. 2007. Utilitarianism and bioethics. In Principles of Health Care Ethics (second edition), Richard Ashcroft, Angus Dawson, Heather Draper, and John McMillan (eds.) pp. 57–64. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons.
Rawls, John. 1972. A Theory of Justice. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Shiffrin, Seana Valentine. 1999. Wrongful life, procreative responsibility, and the significance of harm. Legal Theory 5: 117–148.
Mill, John Stuart. 1869. (orig. 1859). On Liberty (fourth edition). London: Longman, Roberts & Green. http://www.bartleby.com/130/5.html. Accessed 6 February 2008.
Declaration of the Rights of the Child. 1959. Proclaimed by United Nations General Assembly resolution 1386 (XIV), 20 November.
Convention on the Rights of the Child. 1989. Adopted and opened for signature, ratification and accession by United Nations General Assembly resolution 44/25, 20 November.
Vehmas, Simo. 2002. Is it wrong to deliberately conceive or give birth to a child with mental retardation? Journal of Medicine and Philosophy 27: 47–63.
Purdy, Laura. 1995. Loving future people. In Reproduction, Ethics and the Law, J. Callahan (ed.) pp. 300–327. Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press.
Freeman, Michael. 1997. The Moral Status of Children: Essays on the Rights of Children. The Hague: Kluwer Law International.
Herissone-Kelly, Peter. 2006. Procreative beneficence and the prospective parent. Journal of Medical Ethics 32: 166–169.
Savulescu Julian. 2001. Procreative beneficence: why we should select the best children. Bioethics 15: 413–426.
Häyry, Matti. 2004. If you must make babies, then at least make the best babies you can? Human Fertility 7: 105–112.
Nozick, Robert. 1974. Anarchy, State, and Utopia. New York: Basic Books.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2009 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Häyry, M. (2009). Is Transferred Parental Responsibility Legitimately Enforceable?. In: Simonstein, F. (eds) Reprogen-ethics and the future of gender. International Library of Ethics, Law, and the New Medicine, vol 43. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-2475-6_11
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-2475-6_11
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-90-481-2474-9
Online ISBN: 978-90-481-2475-6
eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)