EMPOWERING WOMEN IN THE FAMILY: SUI GENERIS ROLE OF WOMEN IN ESTABLISHING A FAMILY AND IN PARENTAL RESPONSIBILITY

Abstract

Family planning in this technological age is no longer a process beyond human control. The birth of a child has surpassed what is called a natural and biological process. Childbirth and the establishment of parenthood, in modern times, can be a planned process as well as a conscious transformation in a person's life when s/he decides to become a parent. What has remained, though, unchanged is the unique role of the woman in conceiving of a child, both biologically and artificially. In this regard, the authoress emphasizes two of the many methods of artificial reproduction (ART) that enable women to establish a single-parent family, namely the in vitro process with donated genetic material and the posthumous reproduction. The authoress singles out these women as women who want to become mothers without wanting to enter into a marital or extramarital union in advance. The other aspect that the authoress addresses in this paper is the concept of joint parental responsibility after divorce. With the change in the pattern of divorce, the role of the woman as a parent has intensified, given that she together with her ex-husband decides on the issue of joint custody after the divorce. The authoress points out that the concept of Joint Custody in no way changes the attribute of parenthood for any of the parents, while the emancipation and economic independence of the woman enable her to exercise parental responsibility after the divorce on her own and independently. The authoress concludes her work with the thesis that the improvement of the position of women in society has significantly helped to strengthen her role in family planning and the exercise of parental responsibility.