The Facts of Fatherhood article and The Myth of a Traditional Family are especially interesting when read in comparison, or rather, in dialogue, with one another. In Laqueur's in-depth account of Mary and Jordhan's custody battle, the court is ultimately the institution holding the power to decide on a solution for this family. Yet, how can coherent laws be written to regulate custody when, as Nicholson points out, there is no such thing as a truly universal family form? The fact that these battles exist all, what does that say about the obsession with 'ownership' in American culture (as pointed out by Laquer's anecote about the Algonquin chief wondering why whites can only love their own biological children)? How do the arguments/complaints of these two authors see eye to eye, and how do they differ? Which one is more convincing?