When Is Birth Unfair to the Child?

Abstract

Is it wrong to bring children who will have serious diseases and\ndisabilities into the world? In particular, is it unfair to them? The notion\nthat existence itself can be an injury is the basis for a recent new tort\nknown as "wrongful life." This paper considers Feinberg's theory of harm as\nthe basis for a claim of wrongful life, and concludes that rarely can the\nstringent conditions imposed by his analysis be met. Another basis for\nmaintaining that it is morally wrong to have children under extremely adverse\nconditions is suggested: a principle of parental responsibility. We also argue\nthat having children under such conditions may be unfair to the children, even\nif they have not been (in Feinberg's sense) harmed. Finally, we consider when\nconditions are sufficiently awful that having children might be viewed as\nincompatible with being a good parent and unfair to the child.