Why Just Two? Disaggregating Traditional Parental Rights and Responsibilities to Recognize Multiple Parents
Why Just Two? Disaggregating Traditional Parental Rights and Responsibilities to Recognize Multiple Parents
Melanie B. Jacobs, 9 J. L. & Fam. Stud. 309 (2007)
I suggest that disaggregating and redefining parentage may allow for recognition of all the relevant adults in a child’s life, yet not grant equal parental rights to all individuals, unless specifically agreed upon. A scheme of relative rights, depending upon the adult’s relationship with and contributions to the child should enable multiple parentage to work. As Professor Alison Young has argued in an article in which she challenges the paradigm of the nuclear family, “[a] more inclusive notion of family does not mean simply adding to the number of ‘parents’ which law and society recognize. The challenge is to approach the task with a greater degree of imagination, so that different types of degrees of contribution and potential contribution may be fostered.”