MARRIAGE AND PARENTING: Lucia Liljegren

[Lucia Liljegren is a "stay-at-home knitter" in Lisle, Illinois.]

Let us say we buy the idea that that all parents ought to be married. That does not imply that all married people ought to have children, nor does it imply that marriage is defined by children or even "about" children.

It seems to me that the law has LONG recognized that marriage is not "about" child bearing. We can, one would think, get some idea what it is "about" by examining grounds for dissolution of marriage. After all, that gives us an idea of the elements legislators consider essential to a real marriage.

Despite the many, many possible grounds for divorce dreamt up by the various 50 states, infertility, or unwillingness or a partner to have children is NOT grounds for divorce in even one state.

Legislators always recognized that, fundamentally, marriage is about something... else!
posted by Eve at 1:38 AM VOTE

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home