Pregnancy, procreation, and moral parenthood

Abstract

This three-paper thesis critically assesses certain presuppositions about pregnancy, procreation, and moral parenthood. Novel reproductive practices and technologies have given rise to situations in which forms of parenthood that have historically been coextensional come apart. The papers in this body of work demonstrate that our views of biological parenthood and moral parenthood as individual concepts are influenced by our understanding of the relationships between these forms of parenthood. However, that perceived relationship also shapes our understanding of those individual concepts of parenthood. The meanings we attribute to procreative roles – in particular, the significance we ascribe to pregnancy and childbirth – are influenced not just by our individual experiences and priorities, but more widely shared views about parental rights and parental obligations. In this body of work, I interrogate predominant views of the maternal-foetal relationship in pregnancy, and common assumptions about the concomitance of parental rights and of parental obligations. I aim to show that there is not one straightforward sense in which one becomes a parent, and that parental rights and obligations do not come in neat packages.

More information

Identifiers

Catalogue record

Export record