I just finished reading your article. In my opinion, you must have grown up in a reasonably stable home, with your father always present and providing for your family. You must be in your mid-twenties to write something so naive. Newsflash lady, you are one of the lucky ones if you were so fortunate to have a stable environment provided for you, and your pathway to adulthood paved with opportunities and loving support and advice from your family. Most people have non of this growing up. You want to target the woman and blame "her" for this "national catastrophe", but when will the people of this country start placing the blame where it is meant to be? I was foolishly naive at 18 years old, believing that the man I was dating really loved me. Yes, we had sex as I am sure you do as well. One time, one night, is all it took. I did try to stay with him. Little did I know what and who he would turn out to be. Right after my daughter was born, he started beating me to the point that I looked like elephant woman. I then found out he was on some serious drugs, and he was not the person who I had thought I knew. After getting 8 stitches in my eye, I waited until he went to sleep and grabbed my baby, ran as fast as I could with the clothes on my back to escape him. It has been 11 years since then. I am now 30. Yes, it is taking me longer to get on the path to a good career, but I do not regret leaving him to do it on my own. Since that time of my departure, he has had 5 more babies, a total of 6 or 7, to different women. He pays absolutely no support for any of them. They will put him jail for a year for domestics, while he is in jail, his support arrears are stopped, and then he is released, he pays nothing, and has another baby. Men are able to have sex, and able to make mistakes without being crucified because they can leave once the sperm is donated. The woman on the other hand has to decide if she wants to kill the life inside of her, or try to make a go of it as a single mother to give this child who did not ask to be created, a chance at life. After that decision, she then has to struggle and sacrifice every day for 18 years to try and raise the child to be a well grounded, moral individual, responsible for their actions and instill in them that education is the key to their future. You are living in today's world preaching and blaming the woman, just like a man would. Before you go placing the blame, do yourself a favor and don't just read books and listen to your daddy, who is probably a republican, do your own research in real life with real people. Get off the pedestal and out of your bubble girl because life is hard when you have nobody there to give you a helping hand, but have many hands ready to take you down. The point, the men leave, are irresponsible, and will not own up to their responsibilities, the women are single mom's because they stick around for the child and try to do all they can for themselves and the father that left to lie and impregnate the next girl. Solution, if a man is put in jail for child support and he never has paid one penny, but he keeps producing more children, they should sterilize him in prison, and make him responsible for the accumulated expenses to have to go to that extent to hold them responsible for their actions.

No one, least of all the article writer, suggested staying with an abusive person. You are reacting emotionally rather than understanding the simple point of the article...this is not the best way to bring up children. It does them a disservice for the rest of their lives, regardless of all of the "exceptions" that people have written.

Yes, I am slightly emotional when it comes to someone writing an article placing blame on the women alone. I understand what comes with being single and raising a child. At the time I had my child, I thought the father would step up and take responsibility, but he didn't. I stress to my daughter the serve consequences of of unprotected sex. I use myself and our life as the prime example. Most guys lies and tell you that they love you, throw some big guilt trip at you as to why you must have sex with them, and then once they get what they want, they move on to the next girl. She has observed this as well as heard it from me. My daughter is 11! I already have to talk about sex because this society is so obsessed with. She has gotten her period already, and a 1 second action could turn into a 18 hard years of raising a child alone. Alot of girls have sex to try to compensate for the missing father. For some type of affection. These are serious issues that I have to pay attention to because the man bailed out on his child. Should I have had an abortion so we would have such a catasophe? Absolutely not! I had that choice. My family disowned me. I had to go to a girl Maturnity Home, and I haven't dated or been out since I have had her. This was my choice when I first heard her heart beat at 6 weeks old. I love my child and I am raising her. She is not in the foster care system. I know the stigma associated with being a single parent. Face it all the time at church, at work, and in social aspects of my life. I don't need people rubbing my face in the fact that I choose the wrong guy to consumate with. I didn't know the real him until it was too late. And that's what his other childrens mothers have stated as well. But this experience has made me stronger, made me appricate life more. God does not give a person more than they can bare. There was a reason I had this child. She was my blessing. I did not go out and make more babies after her birth that I couldn't raise, and my choice in men is jaded because of this. I am very wary. That's why I don't date. I ask myself the question, if I should become pregnant at sometime, would this person stick around? Is he capable of providing for the child, and most men in my age frame prove the answer is no.