Three-Parent Babies and Mitochondrial Replacement Techniques. An Institutional View of Moral Parenthood

In this paper, I address the philosophical consistency of the term “three-parent babies,” which is often used to describe children born through mitochondrial replacement therapy. I will argue that two primary arguments, based respec-tively on identity and causality, fail to excludeegg donors as candidates as mor-al parents due to their essential contribution to the child’s existence (moral parenthood encompasses a set of rights and responsibilities that are not direct-ly regulated by a legal system). Finally, I shall show how the potential extension of parental status to donors is conceivable, relying on the concept of “investment” in the procreative dynamic, and a conventional and institutional conception of parenthood.