Why can't I use 持つ or 持った for both?

Question

The following sentence is extracted from 親の七光り

権力を持つ親を持った子供

Why can't 持つ be used in both?

権力を持つ親を持つ子供

Or 持った?

権力を持った親を持った子供

How about this?

権力を持った親を持つ子供

Answer 1

The short answer is that you could use the others, but if you compare, probably 権力を持つ親を持った子供 is the most natural.

The basic points are:

• 権力を持った親 sounds ambiguous about whether the parent has still power. (権力を持っていた親 definitely implies that the parent no longer has power or s/he is dead).
• The repetition of 持つ sounds awkward.

I guess it depends a lot on the nature of the actual words whether た-form or the dictionary form is preferred. For example, 障害を持った子供を持つ親 is equally natural as 障害を持つ子供を持った親. A possible explanation is 権力 is much more volatile than disabilities (and repetitions tend to be avoided).

Also, if there is no clause with 持つ (as in 権力を持つ), Xを持つ子供 is perfectly fine.

• 裕福な親を持つ子供はボンボンと呼ばれる Children with rich parents are called Bonbon.

Here (to me) …持った子供 is fine, but 持つ is slightly more natural.