Abstract:
I introduce an influential challenge to the morality of procreative parenting, which turns on the (putative) comparative superiority of adoptive parenting. I critique recent attempts by Luara Ferracioli and Elizabeth Brake to vindicate the permissibility of procreative parenting in the face of this challenge. I then outline some considerations in favour of procreative parenting that have been largely ignored in the literature. I remain, however, agnostic about the strength of these considerations. To conclude, I motivate a metaethical position that I call "deontic fictionalism," and argue that it gives us a useful perspective on debates like this one.