Chapter 11

Summary

Chapter 11 discusses families and whether or not the decision is right to become a parent. The average middle-income family spends $10,960 per year on the child for the first two years of his/her life. It is estimated that 15% of new mothers experience postpartum depression, a serious disorder. In 2007 the average Caucasian U.S.-born woman had an estimated 2.1 children in her lifetime. There are several factors that affect fertility:

Macro-Level Social Factors: Population growth, technology, race and ethnicity, religion, labor force participation, social class, access to health care.

Macro-Level factors branch into three Micro-Level Individual Factors

Intercourse Variables: timing of first intercourse, percent of women

who ever had intercourse, time spent in marriage, frequency of intercourse.

Conception Variables: contraceptive use, sterilization, infertility.

Pregnancy Outcome Variables: Miscarriage and stillbirth, induced abortion

ALL LEAD TO: Live births

There are many reasons people postpone parenthood, mostly it has to do with money and careers. Infertility is the inability to conceive a baby, and affects about 15% of all couples. The traditional solution to infertility is adoption. Other solutions involve: artificial insemination, fertility drugs, in vitro fertilization, and surrogacy. Genetic engineering is quickly becoming an expensive form of detecting prenatal genetic disorders. It is written that 33% of all women will have an abortion by the age of 45.

Interesting Facts

I found the section on abortion incredibly interesting. I didn’t know that abortions could be induced medically. However, I don’t believe the statistic that 33% of all women will have an abortion by age 45.

Question

For the guys in this class, would you feel comfortable with your wife having an In Vitro Fertilization using another man’s sperm (assuming you’re infertile)? Could you see yourself loving the child as much as if it were your own offspring? Would you view it as your own offspring? Assume that you both really want a child for this scenario.

- Steve Boser