The bad habit of bearing children

Procreation—the act of having and raising biological children—is generally not a life choice that is subject to moral scrutiny. In this article, we argue that decisions to procreate are morally evaluable, and that such evaluation reveals that prospective parents have a defeasible obligation to prioritize adoption over procreation. The obligation is defeated by the lack of desire to become a parent, and also in certain cases where legal hurdles are logistically onerous. We conclude that those prospective parents who are unaffected by the defeasibility conditions have a duty to prioritize adoption, regardless of the strength, power, or depth of the desire for biological offspring.