Couples who wish to have children need to apply to the government for permission and must pass a series of evaluations first.

This is going to be the hardest freedom to lose and will undoubtedly be one of the things which turn many people away from this ideal. A few people have pointed out that it sounds dangerously close to Eugenics, however it is important to point out that whilst this is a form of selective breeding, it is not to create a master race of genetic perfection. The only reason for this restriction is to ensure children are raised by loving parents who will be able to provide them with a good life.

Unfortunately I am of the opinion that the way our world currently works has corrupted a lot of people, there are huge numbers in our society now who are simply not fit to raise children and to allow them to do so would only result in the propagation of their beliefs and their – as far as I am concerned – inhuman behaviour, my good friend, Franco DeMori often talks about something he refers to as ‘the inherited script’, he believes that a huge problem in todays society is that parents raise children to believe what they themselves believe and more-often-than-not become who their parents are. They they go on to have children of their own and pass down their inherited script to continue the cycle.

This law will break that cycle, or at least it will mitigate it, we obviously can’t (nor should we) prevent parents from passing on their beliefs to their children and I’m sure there will be people who don’t agree with Aretecracy. However the people in society who are truly not fit to raise children, will not be allowed to do so in this system

Assessment criteria

In order to pass the assessment the following criteria must be met:

1. Applicants must be in a relationship, which has lasted at least 2 years.
2. Applicants must not have negative Grace.
3. Both applicants must be educated to at least College level.
4. Both applicants must be at least 21 years of age.
5. Applicants must not currently be (or have been within the last year) a smoker (a smoker is defined as someone with a regular smoking habit, occasional recreational smoking will not be counted), a recreational drug user (drugs here include all currently illegal substances, excluding marijuana, which will fall under the same regulations as smoking) or a person who drinks more than twenty-five units of alcohol per week.
6. Applicants must not have a criminal record within 2 years or have ever had a criminal record for violence.
7. Applicants must pass an emotional intelligence assessment (this will be similar to the monitoring methods used to screen NC’s for election, however this will be done only after obtaining consent). Note: This is not an IQ test.

This process will understandably take some time to assess, however there are two ways to speed the process up:

1. At least one applicant is degree educated
2. Both applicants are registered voters
3. At least one applicant is a meritocrat or has a significant amount of Grace

As you may have guessed, these criteria are in place to ensure that the child will be raised in a stable environment by intelligent and loving parents. The purpose is not to penalise anyone and no other criteria will be taken into consideration, if during an assessment it is determined that an applicant doesn’t meet the criteria but the approval board still consider the couple to be fit for parenting, it will be possible to overrule the decision.

Enforcement

Enforcing this system will be difficult; As this is a free country, we can’t stop people having children. However any couple that has a child without obtaining permission will placed under immediate assessment. If they are considered eligible for parenthood then they will be allowed to raise the child but will face a Grace penalty for their deception.

If they are found ineligible then they must undergo an abortion or if they choose to (or if the time frame for an abortion has passed) they can go through with the birth and then have the child put up for adoption. This is about as close as we get to a nanny state, however it does not cross the line as people who are incapable of being good parents should not be allowed to have children. If you are not a bad person then you will almost certainly be approved for parenthood.

None of the enforcement options are desirable and the hope is that are rarely required.

Single people who wish to have children or couples who both want to work before the child enters school will be entitled to apply, however their criteria will be slightly stricter:

1. They must be a member of the meritocracy or have high Grace.
2. They must be in employment which is in-line with raising a child (i.e. Have flexible working conditions or at least a crèche).

Again the criteria here are not intended to penalise, it’s to ensure that at least one parent will be able to dedicate enough time to raising their child properly.

Post-birth assessments

Once the child has been born, the family will undergo yearly assessments to ensure the needs of the child are being met, if it is found that the child is not getting the best upbringing, the assessments will be made monthly, failing 6 months worth of assessments will result in the child being placed into the adoption system. In extreme circumstances (such as evidence of abuse), the child may be placed into the adoption system immediately.

After five years, assessments will be carried out once every 5 years until the child turns 15.