There was a very high volume of resopnses to this article: if you're interested, you can find some coverage of the reaction in the most recent Fraywatch column

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Moira Redmond

Fray team

that you barely mentioned this issue favoring instead a pointless debate over Disneyworld....

that you mentioned only one post- and that one a pointless attack (which i see the benefit of showing, but you completely ignored many well thought out posts that people wrote)....

i don't really see the need to post a link to fraywatch here..

I wanted to post this again here as a last comment. I was reading another post in this thread, when someone made a thoughtful and respectful comment. Naturally, inciting the list Neanderthals to jump right in, twisting their small minded logic around what she said and making inane and irrelevant comments. So, here is a repost, and I only put it here because I think it makes an important point both on the original article and as a response to the overwhelming misogyny running rampant here.

"Women can have healthy babies into their forties."
"In addition, women are NOT, for the most part, having kids out of wedlock because they can't find a suitable husband. They are doing it because they either haven't been responsible about birth control, or they simply don't care about finding a father for their child."

Wrong, Wrong, Wrong, WRONG!!

Studies over and over have told us time and again that the BEST time for a woman to be pregnant and give birth is from her mid-teens through her mid twenties. After that, her fertility begins to decline until about 40, at which it takes a steep drop. After 40, the chances of a woman getting pregnant, having a normal, uncomplicated pregnancy, and a normal healthy child drop to about 35%. Ever wonder why fertility clinics have become so popular? Even men have a drop in fertility rates after 40, though they still produce enough sperm to get a woman pregnant for many years after.

Between 1991 and 2005 out of wedlock births to teenagers fell 34%. Between 2005 and 2006, there was a modest increase of 3%. However, there has been a 20% increase in unmarried births since 2002, ALMOST ENTIRELY AMONG WOMEN AGED 25-36, WITH LARGEST INCREASE IN WOMEN AGED 26-29 (10%).

You can find this information easily on the official NCHS website sponsored by the CDC. It took me all of 10 minutes to find it.

So, the BIGGEST increase in out of wedlock births is to OLDER women, who, presumably, are tired of waiting around for a decent man and are deciding to have children anyway, before their fertility declines beyond repair. It can also indicate an increase in non-married partnerships that are raising children, but the NCHS does not keep track of that.

However, what is frustrating me the most about the ignorant postings of neanderthals like yourself, GetADog and others, is the COMPLETE BLAME BEING PLACED ON THE FEMALE. It takes TWO to tango, remember? If men feel so victimized by our female child bearing decisions, then why are they out there getting us pregnant? Why is it ENTIRELY the female's responsibility to "keep her legs shut", while absolutely nothing has been said about the male responsibility to "keep it in his pants"?

Can you say: HYPOCRITE!

Janipurr- Is this last post some sort of grade school, "i got the last word i win" type of thing? Sorry everyone (excuse me, i mean neanderthals) couldn't be in total agreement with your intellictually superior beliefs.

So, the BIGGEST increase in out of wedlock births is to OLDER women, who, presumably, are tired of waiting around for a decent man and are deciding to have children anyway, before

I have seen this sentiment expressed several times by several different people. Why is it always the mans fault that she is alone? Maybe, just maybe, this particular female has some inherent defect that no man will tolerate- hence she is alone. Maybe she should just be happy that she can find a volunteer to breed her.

breeding indeed....

totally uncalled for but i've come to expect contempt for others from you. all that being said, i kind of agree with you in one sense. I've always wondered at people that tried so hard to have kids naturally. I'm not saying there's not some inherent value in things like in vitro, but isn't it more selfish than altruistic when there are other ways to give to children? I wonder whether or not some people were not meant to have children... perhaps they were meant to adopt or perhaps their need for children is more a biological imperative than actually something they truly desire and have the patience for.

i wonder if perhaps some people miscarry for a reason, that something was wrong genetically with the child (a proven reason some miscarriages happen) or perhaps a cruel fate awaited the child like being hideously murdered....

i also wonder whether or not some of these people who judgmental types say "shouldn't" have kids aren't actually the best ones to raise certain children as they come out of the proverbial fire of their lives, tempered and forged in strength and patience. many times adversity makes for a better person and a "perfect" life can lead to a life of vacuity (insert paris hilton joke here)

these are all just random musings on a friday afternoon, but i do think people are a little too emotionally hung up - many times for the wrong reasons- on needing to procreate. of course, it's debatable what the wrong reasons are....

but back to you cutecouple. i'd almost forgotten. while i get sick of hearing women talking about waiting around for decent men, i'm not sure what you're advocating. wasn't it you who was advocating being more picky about who you hook up with?

How's it going deduction? I put that breeding phrase in there just for you (to see if you were still on the the ball)! Good catch. I wasn't really advocating anything in particular right hear, just pointing out what i consider to be a silly line of thought. Of course people should be judicious when picking a life long mate, but i also feel strongly that if no man is ever good enough, a look in the mirror might be justified.

You should be a speech writer. "Out of the proverbial fire of their lives, tempered and forged in strength and patience". That is good stuff. Really. Obama has nothing on you. I know you dislike me, but i'm really just having fun. I have really enjoyed your unique responses, maybe we'll speak again.