It’s time to abandon out-moded notions which restrict parenthood to biological mothers and fathers, argue two Australian researchers in a forthcoming issue of the international journal Human Reproduction. The development of technology, say bioethicist Guiliana Fuscaldo and sociologist Sarah Russell, has created a new spectrum of possible parents.

“Perhaps it is time to accept that there is more to parenting than just biology and to abandon the idea that different “parents” (genetic, gestational, social and legal) are in competition. We could simply accept that a child can have more than two parents [and] that all of them can play roles in raising that child. After all, we have known for a long time that ‘it takes a village’,” they write in the Age newspaper. They do not propose any limit on the number of individuals who could be nominated as parents of a child.

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Michael Cook

Michael Cook edits BioEdge, a bioethics newsletter, and MercatorNet, an on-line magazine whose focus is human dignity. He writes from Sydney, Australia.

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