Did you hear/read the news that more babies were born in 2007 than the previous record set in the 1950s?
Interestingly, 40% of the babies were born to unwed mothers, and although some of those were teenage mothers, the vast majority of those were over 20 years of age. One of the lead researchers was quoted as saying, "For a variety of reasons, it's become more acceptable for women to have babies without a husband."
It's definitely something I continue to ponder and have discussed with some of my singleton peers. Ideally, I would like to have a committed relationship first and then a child. But as the clock continues it's steady march towards forty, I wonder if I should go it alone. But I continue to delay the decision, in part because I wonder if bringing a child into the world on my own is selfish, knowing that the child wouldn't have a father. Would it be better to adopt, giving a child at least one parent? And, of course, there's the very real fact that I would have to continue to work, being a single parent, and someone else would be raising my child during most of its waking hours.
There's no easy answer. I'm grateful that I at least have three beautiful nieces and two charming nephews to enjoy, all of whom I got to see this past weekend!
2 comments:
This dilemma and your thoughts on it are one of the things I admire most about you. (Through your writing, of course.) It seems so clear that you have a lot of love to give and would make a fantastic mother. But the questions you ponder about being a single parent and needing to work are huge ones. Granted, there are many single mothers who have to put their children in daycare/nannycare all day... but it is definitely not an ideal situation to go into willingly and could be construed as selfish. I don't envy you the quandary, but I know whatever you decide will be right for you.
...well you would make a lovely,loving Mommy,Emily, that's for sure. :)
A.Norma.x
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