Chapter 11

Summary:

Chapter 11 discusses the choice of becoming or not becoming a parent. It begins by telling us that 72% of adults in America have children. It then lists different types of reactions the parents may have to the pregnancy. They include planners, acceptance of fate, ambivalent, and yes-no.  There are both costs and benefits to being a parent. It is beneficial because most parents say it is rewarding to have a child but the costs are actually monetary as it is expensive to raise a child. However, most couples say that having a child made their marriage happier. Pregnancy also has benefits and costs to the woman. She is usually joyous about the idea of having a child but, there are health risks involved with child bearing. The book then discusses the ways mothers and fathers interact with their newborns. Responsibility for the newborn is mostly put on the mother by society but the fathers also play a role in the baby’s development.

Most American women say that their desire is to have two children, but this is not always possible because fertility plays a huge role in whether a woman can have children or not. Since the 1950s, the fertility rate has been on the decline. There are macro-level factors to his such as better birth control options and more opportunities for women to further their education. Micro level factors include things such as the individual’s use of contraception and the individual’s level of sexual activity.

According to chapter 11, many people are postponing parent hood. Like the fertility rate, there are micro and macro level factors that contribute to the current situation. Micro-level factors include busy work life, women want to be married before they have children, couples don’t want to use a babysitter, and women enjoy their jobs too much to give them up to raise a child.  Macro-level factors include the economy, high divorce rate, reproductive technology, and maternity leave policies.

Some women choose to wait to have children until they are older than average. There are advantages and disadvantages of waiting to give birth.  Older women are less likely to have children with birth defects. They are also more likely to be well educated, married, and have a steady income.  Older mothers are more prepared for the responsibility as it is probably something they have been contemplating for a long time. There are also advantages for men, they are earning higher salaries and have earned more benefits. However, there are health disadvantages for having a baby when the woman is older; the baby is more likely to have mental health issues when born to older parents. Older parents are more dedicated to their careers and may have high up, demanding positions.

Infertility is a problem among couples trying to conceive as it is the inability to conceive. There are many reasons for infertility and sometimes doctors just don’t know what’s wrong. It is not always the woman’s fault for infertility, a man can be just as infertile as a woman. There are many different reactions to infertility, both by the couple that cannot conceive and to the society around them. Since it is expected for a married couple to have a child together, many people question why they do not have a child.  Women in particular are affected by infertility mentally. Infertility also puts a strain on a marriage.

One answer to the infertility problem is adoption. This is not the same as a foster child. Foster children are put into homes through social services, which is run by the government. Transracial adoption is discussed in the chapter. This is when a family of one race adopts a child of a different race. Some say it is a good idea because it gets black children who may have suffered in an unstable home get to live with a family that has the stability they need to become successful. Others say it is a bad idea because the white family may try to hard to get the black children to learn about their culture. There are three different kinds of adoption; open adoption is when the child still has contact with their birth parent(s), closed adoption is the exact opposite, and semi-open adoption is when communication between biological parents and adoptive parents are done through a third party. Same sex parents may adopt children since they are not able to have children together. International adoption is also popular but is becoming increasingly more difficult.

As technology is advancing, as are ways to fix infertility and the chapter gives many examples. First, artificial insemination is when a woman is impregnated artificially. There are also fertility drugs that can be taken to increase the chances of getting pregnant. IVF is another option in which the egg and sperm are both taken and put together in a lab and then put back into the woman. Surroacy is when another woman is inseminated with the husband’s sperm and she bears the child.

The controversial topic of abortion is then discussed. This is when an embryo is taken from the uterus. It is similar to a miscarriage but instead of being natural, it is a medical procedure. Women who are going through an unplanned pregnancy due to things such as ignorance or rape often opt for an abortion.

“Child free,” couples are those who have decided personally not to have children.

What I Learned:

I thought the section about infertility was really informative, particularly all the different treatments for infertility. I decided to Google “weird infertility treatments for women,” because I was curious if there was anything the book didn’t mention. I found acupuncture treatments to be particularly popular as well as a lot of natural remedies.

Question for discussion:

I found the section about older parents to be kind of controversial. What is the “right” age to have children? Is there a “right” age? Are older parents wrong? What is too young to have children?

Gina Z.