What is a family?

THERE are those who see techniques such as in vitro fertilisation as the first step on a slippery slope to the Brave New World.
Some believe the issue of IVF treatment for anyone outside the traditional family throws the whole nature of family into doubt.
The family, according to the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights: “Is the natural and fundamental unit of society and is entitled to protection by society and the State”.
But does the definition preclude a homosexual couple or a single person raising a child created through reproductive technology?
The nuclear family is far from a recent western European invention. The unit of intimate partners, often with children, has been the core of virtually all societies. But same-sex couples, and single women who want children are also social realities.
Homosexuality was condemned by both Christianity and the ancient Greek philosophers.
Although the philosopher Plato was supposedly homosexual, he argued that, since neither animals nor birds indulge in it, nor should humans.
But he also regarded monogamous marriage, with parental responsibilities, as a threat to social solidarity. He recommended instead that wives and children be shared in common.
According to Plato’s philosophy, the basic laws of the universe were timeless and simple. Parenting was a community matter, not confined to parents.
Science has made parenting possible, in theory, for everyone.
But what is the authority of science? Is it the best type of knowledge we possess, or just the most influential?
Jean-Paul Sartre said: “Man is condemned to be free”. On the other hand, our freedom obliges us to make something of ourselves; to live authentically or truely. Life is not a technical or mechanical process. There is a far deeper reality to existence.
The vital ingredient — the essence of us — seems to be that mysterious element called soul. It distinguishes us from all other beings on the planet.
Benedict De Spinoza argued that, with our souls, we should see everything from the perspective of eternity. He influenced John Locke, who in turn argued that subjugation of people on sexual grounds was invalid.
Many of those who philosophically followed — including Voltaire, David Hume, Immanuel Kant and Soren Kierkegaard — questioned the standard definitions of family.
The Moral Majorities of the 19th and early to mid 20th centuries were pretty clear that families entailed a male and female parent and at least a couple of kids. Child-rearing was considered tough but necessary and rewarding work.
The Techno Age radically altered our lives, allowed us to die more slowly, possibly surrounded by machines rather than family and friends, and threw up great ethical dilemmas.
N OW we have the age of ethical debate. Some scientists claim human cloning is achievable with relative ease. The spiritual and ethical implications are challenging.
So are the questions surrounding IVF availability outside traditional relationships.
First we have to define what family really means.
Single parent families are prevalent, divorce is common, many parents avoid marriage, a significant number of marriages have no children, and many lesbians and gay men establish long-term and committed relationships.
We know the traditional family is not always a haven from the perils of the world, but is sometimes a site of violence, exploitation and danger, especially for women and children.
American minister Mark Kowalewski and religious scholar Elizabeth Say examined the up and down sides of homosexual relationships in the book Gay,Lesbians and Family Values.
They concluded that many couples had constructed pluralistic family values filled with love, care and humor despite “virulent bigotry and ignorance of extremists who claimed restrictive values of family”.