Why have children? the ethical debate - Overall, Christine 1949- (MIT Press, 2012)
Includes bibliographical references (pages [237]-245) and index
Introduction -- Reproductive freedom, autonomy and reproductive rights -- When prospective parents disagree -- Deontological reasons for having children -- Consequentialist reasons for having children -- Not a "better never to have been" -- An obligation not to procreate? -- Illness, impairment, and the procreation decision -- Overpopulation and extinction -- Procreation, values, and identity
"In contemporary Western society, people are more often called upon to justify the choice not to have children than they are to supply reasons for having them. In this book, Christine Overall maintains that the burden of proof should be reversed: that the choice to have children calls for more careful justification and reasoning than the choice not to. Arguing that the choice to have children is not just a prudential or pragmatic decision but one with ethical repercussions, Overall offers a wide-ranging exploration of how we might think systematically and deeply about this fundamental aspect of human life."--Jacket