TY - JOUR AU - Fenton, Cameron PY - 2017/05/09 Y2 - 2024/03/29 TI - Who counts as a parent for the purposes of filial obligations? JF - Etikk i praksis - Nordic Journal of Applied Ethics JA - Etikk Praksis - Nord J Appl Ethics VL - 11 IS - 1 SE - DO - 10.5324/eip.v11i1.2245 UR - https://www.ntnu.no/ojs/index.php/etikk_i_praksis/article/view/2245 SP - 17 - 32 AB - <p>I argue that using a traditional biological account of parenthood causes problems for determining who counts as a parent for the purposes of filial obligations in alternative family structures. I then argue that a better way to understand parenthood is as a role. People who fill the role of parents are parents, regardless of their biological ties to a child. Next, I argue that children can have more than two parents and so can have filial obligations to more than two people. I then demonstrate that understanding parenthood as a role allows us to correctly account for who should be a parent in cases of adoption, surrogacy, and extended families. In the final section I discuss three related worries about allowing a child to have more than two parents.</p> ER -