University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa

Biotechnological developments (chiefly, assisted reproduction, cloning, and pre-implantation genetic diagnosis) and broader social changes in family structures (chiefly, higher rates of divorce and re-marriage, the possibility of same sex co-parenthood), have radically changed the options open to prospective parents. What kinds of children we create and within what familial arrangements we rear them are now, in principle, open to much greater choice than previously. This conference will address a range of ethical issues that arise from concerns about the life any future child might reasonably be expected to enjoy, about what makes someone a parent, and about what rights and duties a parent has. Possible topic areas include the right to procreate, the duty to (or not to) procreate, the role of the state in facilitating procreation, duties of prospective procreators to future children and relevant third parties, how disability bears on procreative decisions, the foundation and scope of parental rights and duties, the relevance of the distinction between ‘causal’ and ‘custodial’ parenthood, and how justice bears on procreative decision-making.

Full Conference Description [1]