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. 2025 Jan 23;51(2):87-91.
doi: 10.1136/jme-2024-109904.

Moral parenthood: not gestational

Benjamin Lange  1   2
Affiliations

Moral parenthood: not gestational

Benjamin Lange. J Med Ethics. .

Abstract

Parenting our biological children is a centrally important matter, but how, if it all, can it be justified? According to a contemporary influential line of thinking, the acquisition by parents of a moral right to parent their biological children should be grounded by appeal to the value of the intimate emotional relationship that gestation facilitates between a newborn and a gestational procreator. I evaluate two arguments in defence of this proposal and argue that both are unconvincing.

Keywords: Ethics; Fetus; Surrogate Mothers.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing interests: None declared.

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