by Donald J. Boudreaux

About the author: Donald J. Boudreaux is a professor of law and economics at Clemson University in South Carolina.

In his famous satire, Jonathan Swift “modestly” proposed slaughtering babies and feeding them to hungry Irish folk. Thanks to Swift’s masterful lampoon, any proposal for modestly changing public policy affecting children risks being branded a satire. So I proclaim up front my sincerity in proposing that pregnant women, and women who have just given birth, be allowed to contract freely with adoptive parents at mutually agreeable prices for the sale of parental rights in their infants.

The proposal is not original. Richard Posner [a federal judge and author] has long championed the cause of a liberalized adoption market. But most replies to his proposal have been critical...