A man and woman were living together and did a round of IVF together, producing a child. The woman struggled mightily with depression and killed herself, orphaning her child. The law cannot recognize the boyfriend as the child's father --neither biologically nor legally is he-- and so a custody case is dragging out and the kid is languishing in foster care instead of home with someone who loves him.
Grey Lady's conclusion? The poor man is one of an increasing number of victims
fallen prey to a system that excessively privileges the conventional family models from which there seems to be a growing exodus.Victim? Gee, if only there were a civil institution aimed at stabilizing the relationship between parents and their offspring, giving kids the parents they need and expressing legally and culturally the "deep commitment to starting a family" the bereaved boyfriend says he and the deceased had.
