Legal parenthood and continued parent-child relationships—the moral and experiential aspects of parenting

This paper presents a construct of parenting which provides criteria for differential solutions in cases of child protection, i.e., confidential adoption, adoption with contact and out-of-home placements. It is proposed that the moral aspect of parenting be central in judicial proceedings regarding the protection of the child. In addition a distinction between the moral and the experiential aspect of parenting should be made. The presentation of this construct is based on the author's assessments of parents when acting as an expert witness to the court (in Israel), in three cases in which compulsory adoption was petitioned by the state. The assessment of the moral aspect of parenting is based on the parent's own evaluation of his/her own parenthood, and the assessment of the experiential aspect is based on the parent-child relationships with a particular emphasis -on the child's responses to the parent. This construct may allow experts to tread the fine line between assessing parents and accusing them and provides a base for negotiation between parents' conceptions of their parenthood and the court's.