ABSTRACT
The right to parent is a right to exercise authority in relation to a child’s life as a whole. I distinguish between several questions: first, can anyone have the right to parent – that is, should there be parents at all? Second, on what grounds do some individuals have the right to parent in general? And third, on what grounds do some individuals have the right to parent a particular child? I critically discuss these questions by looking at theories that appeal to the interests of the children in being parented, or to the interests of adults in being parents, or to both kinds of interests.
