428
Opinion of Stevens, J.
'The putative father often goes his way unconscious of the birth of the child. Even if conscious, he is very often totally unconcerned because of the absence of any ties to the mother.' Id. at 355 n. 7 (internal quotation marks and citation omitted). This sex-based distinction seems especially warranted where, as here, the applicant for citizenship was fathered by a U. S. serviceman while serving a tour of duty overseas." Id., at 1472.
Judge Wald concurred in the judgment despite her opinion that there is "no rational basis for a law that requires a U. S. citizen father, but not a U. S. citizen mother, to formally legitimate a child before she reaches majority as well as agree in writing to provide financial support until that date or forever forfeit the right to transmit citizenship." Id., at 1473. While she agreed that "requiring some sort of minimal 'family ties' between parent and child, as well as fostering an early connection between child and country, is rational government policy," she did not agree that those goals justify "a set of procedural hurdles for men—and only men—who wish to confer citizenship on their children." Id., at 1474. She nevertheless regretfully concurred in the judgment because she believed that our decision in Fiallo v. Bell, 430 U. S. 787 (1977), required the court to uphold the constitutionality of § 1409. 96 F. 3d, at 1473.
We granted certiorari to address the following question:
"Is the distinction in 8 U. S. C. § 1409 between 'illegitimate' children of United States citizen mothers and 'illegitimate' children of United States citizen fathers a violation of the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution?" 520 U. S. 1208 (1997).
III
Before explaining our answer to the single question that we agreed to address, it is useful to put to one side certain
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