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Responsibility Begins At Conception, Shari Motro
Responsibility Begins At Conception, Shari Motro
Law Faculty Publications
Under current law, most states frame men’s pregnancy-related obligations as an element of child support or as part of a parentage order, which generally kicks in only after the birth of a child and is limited to medical expenses. Until and unless the pregnancy produces a child, any costs associated with it are regarded as the woman’s responsibility. The debate around the new technology has, unfortunately, so far adopted this frame, labeling the test a paternity test and the potential obligation as child support.
Rather than focusing on the relationship between the man and a hypothetical child, the new technology …
The Price Of Pleasure, Shari Motro
The Price Of Pleasure, Shari Motro
Law Faculty Publications
This Article argues that unless sexual partners explicitly agree otherwise, pregnancy should create a unique type of legal relationship. This relational default would come with certain obligations: in limited circumstances, a woman would be expected to communicate the fact of a pregnancy to the man with whom she conceived, and a man would be required to help support her during pregnancy and recovery. Child support obligations should kick in only once a child is born; until and unless this happens, a man's economic responsibility should be conceptualized as a responsibility towards the woman herself.
The goal of this Article is …