In Francoise Baylis & Carolyn McLeod (eds.), Family-Making: Contemporary Ethical Challenges. Oxford University Press (2014)
Authors |
|
Abstract |
Most people would agree that adoption is a good thing for children in need of a family. Yet adoption is often considered a second best or even last resort for parents in making their families. Against this assumption, I explore the unique value of adoption for prospective parents. I begin with a criticism of the selective focus on the value of adoption for only those people using assisted reproductive technologies. I focus on the value of adoption for all prospective parents, reflecting on non-relative, non-procreative adoptions. First, adoption can meet the important need that a child has for a family, whereas procreation creates rather than meets needs. Second, adoption provides a morally noble opportunity to extend to a stranger benefits usually withheld for one's genetic kin. As such, adoption offers a unique possibility in which impartial concern for an other can be the starting point for a lifetime of love and care. Finally, adoptions can have transformative power over adoptive parents’ conception of family and self. In highlighting the unique value of adoption, I aim to challenge the widespread assumption that adoption has second best status to procreation. Indeed adoption can exemplify the human potential for moral compassion and impartial concern for the needs of others.
|
Keywords | adoption rescue procreation artificial reproduction |
Categories | (categorize this paper) |
Buy the book |
Find it on Amazon.com
|
Options |
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Download options
References found in this work BETA
Which Relationships Justify Partiality? The Case of Parents and Children.Niko Kolodny - 2010 - Philosophy and Public Affairs 38 (1):37-75.
Partiality and Impartiality: Morality, Special Relationships, and the Wider World.Brian Feltham & John Cottingham (eds.) - 2010 - Oxford University Press.
View all 11 references / Add more references
Citations of this work BETA
Procreative-Parenting, Love's Reasons and the Demands of Morality.Luara Ferracioli - 2018 - Philosophical Quarterly 68 (270):77-97.
The Medical Nonnecessity of In Vitro Fertilization.Carolyn McLeod - 2017 - International Journal of Feminist Approaches to Bioethics 10 (1):78-102.
Rethinking Abortion, Ectogenesis, and Fetal Death.Christine Overall - 2015 - Journal of Social Philosophy 46 (1):126-140.
Nothing Personal: On the Limits of the Impersonal Temperament in Ethics.Nicholas Smyth - 2022 - Journal of Value Inquiry 56 (1):67-83.
Does Reproductive Justice Demand Insurance Coverage for IVF? Reflections on the Work of Anne Donchin.Carolyn McLeod - 2017 - International Journal of Feminist Approaches to Bioethics 10 (2):133-143.
View all 10 citations / Add more citations
Similar books and articles
Family Making: Contemporary Ethical Challenges.Carolyn McLeod & Francoise Baylis (eds.) - 2014 - Oxford University Press.
The Ethics of Intercountry Adoption: Why It Matters to Healthcare Providers and Bioethicists.Sarah Jones - 2010 - Bioethics 24 (7):358-364.
Ethics and the Socio-Political Context of International Adoption: Speaking From the Eye of the Storm.Sarah Wall - 2012 - Ethics and Social Welfare 6 (4):318-332.
Not For the Faint of Heart: Assessing the Status Quo on Adoption and Parental Licensing.Carolyn McLeod & Andrew Botterell - 2014 - In Francoise Baylis & Carolyn McLeod (eds.), Family Making: Contemporary Ethical Challenges. Oxford University Press. pp. 151-167.
Can a Right to Reproduce Justify the Status Quo on Parental Licensing?Andrew Botterell & Carolyn McLeod - 2015 - In Richard Vernon, Sarah Hannan & Samantha Brennan (eds.), Permissible Progeny: The Morality of Procreation and Parenting. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 184-207.
Are the Kids Alright? Rawls, Adoption, and Gay Parents.Ryan Reed - 2013 - Ethical Theory and Moral Practice 16 (5):969-982.
Is Transracial Adoption in the Best Interests of Ethnic Minority Children?: Questions Concerning Legal and Scientific Interpretations of a Child’s Best Interests.Shelley M. Park & Cheryl Green - 2000 - Adoption Quarterly 3 (4):5-34.
Adoption Theologically Considered.Stephen G. Post - 1997 - Journal of Religious Ethics 25 (1):149-168.
The Best Interest of Children and the Basis of Family Policy: The Issue of Reproductive Caring Units.Christian Munthe & Thomas Hartvigsson - 2012 - In Daniela Cutas & Sarah Chan (eds.), Families: Beyond the Nuclear Ideal. Bloomsbury Academic.
Standing Conference of Societies Registered for Adoption. Medical Aspects of Child Adoption.Ml Kellmer Pringle - 1966 - The Eugenics Review 58 (4):218.
Analytics
Added to PP index
2014-02-06
Total views
3,220 ( #1,134 of 2,518,143 )
Recent downloads (6 months)
78 ( #9,755 of 2,518,143 )
2014-02-06
Total views
3,220 ( #1,134 of 2,518,143 )
Recent downloads (6 months)
78 ( #9,755 of 2,518,143 )
How can I increase my downloads?
Downloads