Making Babies: Is There a Right to Have Children?

by Mary Warnock

Is there a such thing as a universal right to have children? Should medical assistance to have children be available to everyone? Are all methods of assisted reproduction legitimate?
Mary Warnock steers a clear path through the web of complex issues underlying these questions. She analyzes what it means to claim something as a "right," examines the ethical problems faced by particular types of assisted reproduction, including artificial insemination, in-vitro fertilization, and surrogacy, and argues that in the future human cloning may well become a viable and acceptable form of treatment for some types of infertility.

Genres: Philosophy

128 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2002

About the author

Helen Mary Warnock, Baroness Warnock, DBE, FBA is a British philosopher of morality, education and mind, and writer on existentialism.

Reviews

[Vince · Rating 4 out of 5]

In Making Babies: Is There A Right to Have Children? Mary Warnock sensibly navigates the ethical questions surrounding assisted human reproduction.

She concludes there is no right to have children...

...but that for those who feel an intense desire to rear their own biological offspring, the medical profession is well within its compassionate mission to assist. She offers carefully balanced assessments of the grounds from which human rights arise and the implications of them.

Her closing argument against the language of rights is compelling, "I would deplore any tendency for people to become so much obsessed with their right to have a child...that they forget the old sense of astonishment and gratitude that came with the birth of a child. Gratitude to whom? Well, to God or nature, or the midwife or the doctor, or the principle of continuity and the renewal of life itself. It does not matter. But...gratitude is something you do not feel when all you have got is what is owed."

Warnock considers assertions that assisted reproduction as used by couples, single-parents, and gay/lesbian parents harms others, offering useful commentary on the vital issue of the good of the child. She further addresses hot-button topics including cloning and allegations that assisted reproduction is akin to "playing God."

She navigates a complex issue, arriving at a sensible position that generally supports the would-be parent's pursuit of assisted reproduction. Her qualifications to comment arise from her thorough understanding of the topic, her work as an ethicist/philosopher, and particularly her ongoing leadership and involvement in the UK's public discussion around assisted reproduction.

At just over 100-pages, Warnock's text makes for a quick and thoughtful read. As a father of three, all concieved via IVF, I enjoyed her book both for her thoughtful treatment and her conclusions.

[Tim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall this is an interesting little book. There is no hard hitting evidence to guide our conscience towards a total opinion found within this book, but more a brief overview of the potential issues of the available methods of aided reproduction.

The author shows some obvious bias on some points however doesn't assert that her view is the only correct view to be held. She expresses differing view points on contentious points, mainly those presented by her colleagues.

The book doesn't fixate on any point too long. Once the needed point has been covered then the author quickly gets onto the next point. Once the author has finished a section of the book they then recap on what has happened and the stance that can be/she takes on what has just been mentioned.

[Gina · Rating 3 out of 5]

An infórmate opinion of a learned woman. It sheds light about the history of assisted reproduction in the UK. Even though I disagree with the author on many topics, I learned a lot from reading her book.

[Amalia Carty · Rating 2 out of 5]

Useful as a research tool; not very entertaining...