What to do about fatherless America

In 1950, less than 5% of Americans were born out of wedlock. Thus, only 5% of the nation was considered illegitimate, a term that designated the moral context of a person who was born outside of marriage. Before the radical changes in our legal system, legitimacy and illegitimacy were the operative categories, drawing clear judgments about responsible adult behavior.

These categories have biblical roots: “It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons” (Hebrews 12:7-8). A child born in wedlock resulted in legitimacy, while one born out of wedlock was a case of illegitimacy. According to Blackstone’s Commentaries on the Laws of England, legitimacy required parents to supply their children with three things: maintenance, protection, and education, whereas, in a matter of illegitimacy, a child was only due maintenance.

Of course, children born outside of wedlock are not to blame for being born so. But our many sexual vices are to blame for the significant increase in illegitimacy rates. Not only is a child born out of wedlock not to blame, but he or she is a creature made in the image of God. Such a child actually receives a particular love from God our Father, “His name is the LORD; exult before him! Father of the fatherless” (Psalm 68:4-5). Given such a child’s worth and status in the eyes of God, we must do a far better job ministering to them. And we have plenty of opportunity.

Consider just how dire our situation has become. Today, the sexual revolution having done its work, nearly half of the children in America are born out of wedlock. This statistic reflects the subversion marriage has suffered due to no-fault divorce. Christians practicing family law encounter the devastating consequences of our legal system every day. Their work is akin not only to operating on a man with multiple chest wounds, but doing so after an incompetent surgeon has already made a mess. Our legal structure is a jumbled and confused mess.

We have forgotten that children are a heritage from the LORD. God communicates this through King Solomon: “Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward” (Psalm 127:3). This text indicates that God himself gives children. This concept appears throughout Scripture: The Lord opens the womb, “And God remembered Rachel, and God hearkened to her, and opened her womb” (Genesis 30:22); He knits man together in the womb, “For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother’s womb. I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made” (Psalm 139:13-14); He brings forth from the womb, “Shall I bring to the birth, and not cause to bring forth? saith the LORD: shall I cause to bring forth, and shut the womb? saith thy God” (Isaiah 66:9). It is comforting to know that the LORD governs the begetting of children from beginning to end.

Underscoring the biblical testimony regarding children in our legal structure is essential, and rediscovering the principle of legitimacy versus illegitimacy is crucial for our nation’s recovery. It’s a necessary moral judgment addressed to a child’s parents. It’s a principle rooted in our national history and would rectify several family law and policy issues. For example, under this older framework, if single Bob fornicates with single Susan and a child results, this is a matter of illegitimacy. Susan is the mother, but the law would not recognize Bob as the father. Bob would be obligated to provide child support but without any custody rights or the privileges of maintenance, protection, and education that Blackstone described. Bob would find himself disenfranchised, as his child would potentially call another man “father” should Susan marry.

Naturally, men are disinclined towards such an arrangement. Currently, Bob may receive custody rights and view himself as a father to children conceived outside of wedlock. The Netflix documentary “The Man with 1000 Kids” vividly illustrates this problem. Jonathan Meijer is estimated to have sired over a thousand children via sperm donation. Many women who used his services object to his extensive donations, which risk potential incest among the many half-siblings worldwide. Jonathan conceives of these children as his and prides himself on his paternity.

Since these children are born via artificial reproductive technologies, Jonathan does not have legal rights as a father, but many like him, due to our legal divergence from a clear standard, do have custody. The older principle underlined a moral truth: Children born in wedlock have a married father and a mother, while children arising outside of wedlock have no such assurance. Our social liberalism, marginalization of marriage, and permissive legal system combine to create an illegitimate morality. A society that loses the category of illegitimacy will reap what it sows.