Brenda Almond throws down a timely challenge to liberal consensus about personal relationships. She maintains that the traditional family is fragmenting in Western societies, and that this fragmentation is a cause of serious social problems. She urges that we reconsider our attitudes to sex and reproduction in order to strengthen our most important social institution, the family, which is the key to ensuring healthy relationships between parents and children and a secure upbringing for the citizens of the future. Anyone who is concerned about how the framework of society is changing, anyone who has to face difficult personal decisions about parenthood or family relationships, will find this book compelling. It may disturb deep convictions, or offer an unwelcome message; but it is compassionate as well as controversial.About the Author: Brenda Almond is Emeritus Professor of Moral and Social Philosophy of the University of Hull and Vice-President of the Society for Applied Philosophy. She has served on the Human Genetics Commission and with the Human Fertilization and Embryology Authority in the United Kingdom and her books include The Philosophical Quest (Penguin, 1990) and Exploring Ethics: A Traveller's Tale (Blackwell, 1998).