Taking Families Seriously Page 1 t hasbecome commonplace to remark that advances in
reproductive medicine do more than simply expand the adable options for forming families-allegations
that they put pressure on such basic concepts as ‘mother’ and ‘child,’ and threaten to distort
fundamental features of our most intimate ties, are widespread. For example, surrogate
motherhood is criticized on the grounds that it illicitly substitutes a contractual model of
obligation for duties that should be seen as flowing “naturally” fi-om the biological fact of …