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In the June 15 New York Times article, “I Did I.V.F. Without a Partner. It Shouldn’t Have Been So Hard,” author Alicia Lombardini described the emotional burden and expense of getting pregnant alone at age 42 after having had two abortions.

Ruth Institute President Dr. Jennifer Roback Morse, Ph.D., responded,

“Having a child is not an entitlement. Nor is it a right like freedom of speech or religion. Every child does, however, have a right to know his or her genetic identity and cultural heritage. All children have a right to a relationship with their natural mother and father, except for an unavoidable tragedy. Donor conception violates these rights of children.

“This is an avoidable tragedy that would not be possible without the collusion of medical professionals, insurance companies and most of all, the law. The law of parenthood says that the gamete donor is a legal stranger to the child. Without this legally enforceable promise of anonymity, no woman would purchase sperm from a sperm bank, and no man would make a deposit.

“The emotional costs for children growing up in a fatherless family are great,” Morse said.

“They won’t have a male role model at home. They won’t experience a father’s love or learn the proper ways in which a husband and wife relate to each other. A child in a single-parent family is more likely to have emotional problems than their counterparts in two-parent homes.”

Morse continued:

“Sometimes, single parenting is unavoidable. But for a woman to intentionally bring a child into the world with this burden is unconscionable.”

When the Ruth Institute launched its Fatherhood Resource Center earlier this month, Morse said,

“From before birth, through the rest of the child’s life, fathers are essential to the well-being of their children.”

Katy Faust, Founder and Director of Them Before Us, added:

“In stories like these, adult desire is conveniently framed as a ‘right.’ In this story, it’s Lombardini’s ‘right to be a mother.’ But, as is always the case, framing adult desires as ‘rights’ results in children losing their actual rights.

In this case, it’s Lombardini’s son who is denied his right to be known, loved, and raised by his own father. No one has a right to parenthood, and no one owes you a child. Rather, all children have a right to their own mother and father.”

Faust’s book, Them Before Us, will receive the Book of the Year award at the Ruth Institute’s 4^th Annual Survivors’ Summit, “Reclaiming the Professions for Life and Family”, July 16-17 in Lake Charles, LA.

Dr. Jennifer Roback Morse is the author of The Sexual State: How Elite Ideologies Are Destroying Lives.