Marquardt Abstract

“Gift or Commodity: How Ought We to Think About Children?”

As the birthrate declines, children arguably become a rarer “commodity,” considered at once expensive and, for some, desirable, but desirable only when and if the time is right in one’s life. This attitude stands in marked contrast to the idea found in the world’s great religious traditions of the child as a “gift,” a blessing from the Creator whose arrival is both welcome and is largely outside the control of the mother and father who receive and raise the child.

This paper will examine the idea of the child as gift or commodity, and will do so from the child’s point of view. It will draw upon sources including a new, representative, cross-sectional study of young adults who had sperm donor biological fathers. Questions that will be explored include: How does it feel to be a product, bought and sold—of being, in a sense, “made” rather than “born”? In a post-legal-abortion era, how does it feel to be told you were an “accident” (and are children in some family structures more likely to hear this narrative)? How might policy goals of seeking to ensure that more babies are “planned” or “wanted” resonate in the ears of young people who are both yesterday’s children and today’s new parents? And finally, does being “wanted” at the outset actually predict better outcomes for children?