by Paola Fanutti

Created on: July 29, 2008   Last Updated: August 04, 2008

If opting out of parenthood prior to pregnancy means exercising a voluntary choice about whether or not to enter into circumstances that could lead to parenthood, men clearly have that option, through abstinence or sterilization.

If opting out of parenthood while a woman is pregnant means whether or not a man can decide whether or not he wants to be a father, he is biologically incapacitated from making such a choice over the woman's unquestionable autonomy over her own body. He cannot carry a baby, hence he cannot opt of out of impending parenthood through abortion.

If opting out of parenthood after a woman gives birth means that a man can consciously, morally and emotionally abandon the life he brought to the world, many men already DO illegally opt out by simply walking away from the child, and are regarded as abhorrent and irresponsible by society at large.

But for the sake of fairness, men should be legally able to opt of parenthood, under expressed, pre-existing conditions. Men can already legally opt out of the responsibilities of parenthood after a woman has given birth to his biological child under the following conditions:

*by lending donor sperm solely for the purposes of contributing biological material
*by placing the child up for legal adoption

But the more common, social scenario where some fathers would like to actively opt out of their responsibilities of fatherhood goes something like this:

*A man and a woman have a sexual relationship and she becomes pregnant. The man insists on an abortion and she refuses. He does not believe that he should be emotionally and financially responsible for maintaining a child he did not want. He would like to opt out of his responsibilities of fatherhood.*

Every man should be liable for his offspring, even if is unplanned, and should not be able to opt out of fatherhood merely because a woman became pregnant unintentionally.

But yet, there are a growing number of interesting claims on the part of some men who feel manipulated and tricked into fatherhood. Men who wish to prove that they have been involved with sperm-stealing women who manipulated them solely for the purposes of extracting their biological material (and later child support) should have some type of legal recourse to substantiate their claim. They should be allowed to opt out of continuing fraudulent relationships with these women and the children who were cunningly conceived.

The solution to this situation is a consensual agreement between both parties

• 1
• 2
• Next Page >>