Dear Friend,

"For decades," Institute vice president Elizabeth Marquardt wrote recently in The Atlantic online, "we have debated whether fathers matter. Must we now debate whether mothers matter, too?" And that's just the beginning.

Her question highlights a recent report from the Institute, One Parent or Five, in which Ms. Marquardt takes the reader on a global tour of today's new intentional families, introducing one, two, and even three, four, and five parent families from around the world. The report reveals what we do and do not know, from a social scientific point of view, about child well-being in these family structures.

One Parent or Five is just one example of how the Institute is leading the national and international discussion on marriage and family with groundbreaking research and analysis. Your support at this time -- as we near the end of our fiscal year -- will help us continue our programmatic momentum into 2012.

One Parent or Five, for the first time, systematically challenges the assumption that intentional parenthood, simply because it is planned in advance of the child's conception, is good for children. It provides a series of provocative questions for readers to grapple with, perhaps for the first time, such as:

• What defines a parent? Biology or intent?
• Do mothers and fathers really matter?
• Is intending to have a child a key factor in child well-being, or do other factors, such as the family structure in which a child is raised, matter as well?
• Are children fine with "multiple" parents?
• Do young people miss the absence of their own mothers and fathers in their lives?
• Are polygamy and polyamory healthy or unhealthy for children?
• Is the possibility of human reproductive cloning ethical if it improves the quality of an individual's way of life?
• Does intended parenthood -- the commissioning of children -- equate to the commodification of human life?

A generous gift now -- as we approach the end of our fiscal year on February 29, 2012 -- will help us as we seek to expand the Institute's reach and influence, especially in the areas of marriage and family.

Many thanks for your consideration.

Sincerely,

David Blankenhorn

P.S. The Institute for American Values, founded in 1988, is a nonprofit 501(c)3 organization. Your gift is tax deductible to the fullest extent of the law. If you would like to receive more information about the Institute, including our monthly Institute in the Public Square and our quarterly publication Propositions, contact us at:

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