Some laws reflect the intuition that a child’s real parent is whoever raises them. Adults have constitutional parental rights only if committed to parental roles, and state rules for presumptions and de facto parenthood protect relationships formed by caregiving. Anyone who raises a child obtains a personal duty to protect the child and claim to preserve the relationship built by their caregiving. These personal relations are weaker than parenthood and cannot explain who has a liberty to raise a child in the first place. Nevertheless, caregiving is central to political parenthood. A community may not allow anyone to take indefinite custody without a duty to fulfill the child’s right to care and guidance. The adult and child then acquire a right to the relationship. Other principles, too, must explain who may raise children. Gestational work does not justify exclusive authority over a child, although it can justify a nonexclusive birth presumption. Third-party caregiving cannot generate rights because a parent is entitled to seek childcare assistance. To ensure children’s primary relational goods, the community must have legal rules specifying when a parent has delegated too much childrearing for too long, forfeiting their authority to revoke the caregiving privilege or oppose parenthood.