For a Feminist Considering Surrogacy, Is Compensation Really the Key Question?

Feminists have long been engaged in the debates over surrogacy. During the past thirty years, thousands of women throughout the world have served as surrogate mothers. The experience of these women has been studied by academics in law and in the social sciences. It is apparent that if properly conducted, surrogacy can be a rewarding experience for women and hence should not be objectionable to feminists. Improperly conducted, however, surrogacy can be a form of exploitation. Compensation is not the distinguishing factor. In this essay I offer two changes to law that would improve the surrogate’s experience of surrogacy. First, the law should treat traditional and gestational surrogacy similarly. Second, a surrogate should be considered a legal parent of the child she bears. These changes would address the most pressing feminist objections to surrogacy and open the way for compensation

Check Only One: M/F/Other

In this extremely brief essay, the author questions Lawrence Summers\u27 generalizations about women in science. We live in a world of uncertainty about the boundaries of gender. Transgendered and intersexed individuals challenge us to step away from strict categories of men and women

Check Only One: M/F/Other

In this extremely brief essay, the author questions Lawrence Summers\u27 generalizations about women in science. We live in a world of uncertainty about the boundaries of gender. Transgendered and intersexed individuals challenge us to step away from strict categories of men and women

De Facto Parents and the Unfulfilled Promise of the New ALI Principles

Alternative families - those that do not fit the classic nuclear family model - have been the focus of legal reform over the last twenty years. The American Law Institute has produced model legislation recognizing de facto parents as holders of some limited rights. To some this is a more flexible regime that would benefit non-nuclear families, in particular lesbian families. This article critiques the ALI draft, demonstrating that its promise is largely illusory

A Lesbian-centered Critique of Second-parent Adoptions

When lesbian couples start families, one woman often begins with all the legal entitlements of parenthood, either by giving birth or by virtue of adopting a child, while the other woman has no legal rights. She is a non-legal parent. Absent legal rights she suffers many critical disadvantages. Second-parent adoptions have been developed to allow lesbians to create families with two-legal parents. They have been widely hailed as a solution to the problem of the non-legal parent. This article argues, however, that for many women they may actually make matters worse. Because some women can use second-parent adoptions, women who do not use them will be at a greater disadvantage. And the community of women who do not use second-parent adoptions may be marked by class, race and other circumstances of disadvantage. As such, second-parent adoptions must be viewed critically rather than as an uncomplicated good

A Lesbian Centered Critique of “Genetic Parenthood”

Recent years have seen a proliferation of alternative reproductive technologies and the ready availability of reliable DNA testing. These developments have lead to enormous uncertainty concerning the meaning of a genetic tie between adult and child. On the one hand, reproductive technology has lead to a robust market where genetic material is readily bought and sold. This suggests it is not the root of parental status. On the other hand, DNA testing has allowed men to contest paternity of children, asserting that they are not genetically related to them. And their challenges have often been successful. Genetic linkage is particularly problematic for lesbians and gay men forming families. Their children are necessarily not related to one of the parents. At the same time genetic relationship has formed a strong basis on which lesbians in particular have asserted their maternity. This article calls for sustained critical analysis of the meaning of the genetic bond, particularly in lesbian families