The Best Available Parent

There is a broad philosophical consensus that both children’s and prospective parents’ interests are relevant to the justification of a right to parent. Against this view, I argue that it is impermissible to sacrifice children’s interests for the sake of advancing adults’ interest in child-rearing. Therefore, the allocation of the moral right to parent should track the child’s, and not the potential parent’s, interest. This revisionary thesis is moderated by two qualifications. First, parents lack the moral right to exclude others from associating with the child. Second, newborns’ relationship with their gestational mother often deserves protection.