And European countries are actively promoting higher birthrates.
Did you see that British fertility campaign photo [above] of the old-looking pregnant TV presenter saying she wished she’d have kids earlier?
Scare tactics.
~ Sarah B. Weir debating with colleague Beth Greenfield about the push for having children earlier in life rather than later, Yahoo Shine, August 2
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Jill Stanek is a nurse turned speaker, columnist and blogger, a national figure in the effort to protect both preborn and postborn innocent human life.
There is no fertility problem with Muslims in the United Kingdom.
Is the indigenous population realizing that in a long-term cultural conflict having many children matters – a lot? Rejecting God and His wisdom has it’s serious problems. The Old Testament is jam packed with such examples.
A number of years ago on this site, I mentioned the apparent demographic shift underway in England. A progressive countered I had a personal problem with “icky brown people.” Her self-centerted liberalism blocked out the possibility of larger events unfolding.
If she’s still reading, I dare her to walk down certain streets in England without a hijab, and openly praise Lee Rigby.
Before anyone goes off about individual morality, remember the British Empire was the aggressor for centuries in far off lands, the importance of which remembering that history and it’s impacts has long been abolished in her schools. The lack of critical historical study is not a coincidence.
Not all wars are fought with rifles. Just convince your opposition to have sterile sex and to kill (sacrifice) their children for personal freedoms. They’ll be so busy lustfully indulging, they won’t notice their culture disappearing until it’s too late.
Actually fertility rates for Muslims are falling too, especially in places like Iran; they are just a few decades behind us on the curve. I have not seen a lot on that, but I would imagine it’s secularization in those countries that is the driver as well. Once a belief in the transcendent goes away, there is nothing left to believe in, except a vain attempt to create paradise on earth. The trouble with nihilism is nihilism, that’s why it is said the birth of every child is a vote for the world to go on. But we shall see…
Okay, first of all that’s not a very appealing picture to use for promoting higher fertility rates. (*Edit* I went to the original article, and it turns out she was deliberately made to look 70 in order to “shock and provoke debate about how old is too old to have a baby.” interesting.)
However, there is a wealth of sociological information here–when did the prevailing opinion in developed nations shift to thinking of having kids as “selfish?” In my experience parenthood has been the least selfish thing I could do! If it weren’t for my sweet daughter (ie if I brought in a second solid paycheck), hubby and I would eat out several times a week, see all the new movies, own all the latest devices, travel occasionally, and probably own a nice big house instead of a tiny 1-bed-1-bath condo. We sacrifice the “high-life” so that I can stay home to raise our unplanned blessing. BTW, I’m not complaining; I love my daughter to pieces, and I love being a SAHM! It just makes me mad to have strangers judging me “selfish” for not only having her but *gasp* wanting to give her siblings!
Also, I know many couples who married fairly young with no desire to ever have kids, lived the DINK lifestyle for a couple decades, then as the woman neared 40 suddenly changed their minds and had 1 or 2 kids. All of them now say they love being parents and wish they had done it sooner (on the plus side, several of these couples I know had established savings accounts due to the childless years, so there’s that!)
And one last thing that bugs me about our culture: the current standard for what is considered “sexy”! Look at all those weight-loss ads that tell women to have 0 body fat and a tight, flat tummy (“I look better than I did _before_ having kids” she says with a blinding-white grin). So maybe that’s another reason people decide not to have kids–it DOES change your body, permanently, but we are told in order to be beautiful we have to look like we were never pregnant. Ugh.
So maybe that’s another reason people decide not to have kids–it DOES change your body, permanently, but we are told in order to be beautiful we have to look like we were never pregnant.
This is very much a reason I’ve heard from the younger generations.
Don’t even get me started on the objectification of women in general, which contributes to the idea (which seems to have gotten into girls’ heads) that if you don’t look like a perfectly airbrushed centerfold, you’re not worthy of male attention.
There’s also the widely-believed myth of overpopulation. I know a few people who claim they want kids, but follow that up with some spew about how it’s wrong to bring more kids into the world when there are too many people here already and so many waiting to be adopted blahblahblah….yet they also don’t seem interested in adopting. Just another rubbish excuse to continue what they see as “the good life” without kids.
I have one daughter (biological) and a son (adopted). I always wanted to have another child, but my marriage was falling apart and it wasn’t a good idea. It’s something I’ll always regret.
mrsJVR, and then after not having kids they’ll demand your child ponies-up for their Social Security, Medicare and health insurance!
There are so many lonely 50 somethings out there, facing old age alone, probably going to be elderly, sick, and eventually die, without anyone to care for them. They passed on family life to pursue their careers. A few of them just didn’t happen to find a mate–and that’s not their fault. But that is the oddity. Most of them were just too calculating and controlling to give life’s greatest adventure a whirl. If you want to do yourself and everyone else a favor in life, have kids. Plenty of them. And take good, loving care of your aging parents, too. Circle of life.
Hahaha – Chris, your xenophobic rant has inspired me. I wasn’t going to have kids, but with all your scary predictions of Muslims taking over the world, I think I’ll have 7.
*eyeroll
This isn’t a complicated issue. People who want kids should have them. People who don’t want kids are the last people on Earth who should be talked in to having them. Why would you want all of these “selfish” “nihilistic” “liberals” to be parents anyway? If you get pregnant at 38+, awesome. If you can’t get pregnant at 38+, hopefully you’ll adopt. If you don’t want to adopt, well, maybe get a Little Sister and a puppy. If you don’t realize there are is an inherent risk to waiting until 36 or later to have kids before making the decision to wait, than you’re not very bright. Other than that, all the judgyness on people’s decisions when it comes to parenting (or not) is a waste of time.
Jamie, if I ever become ill when I am older I would voluntarily go into a nursing home. I dont want tovbe a burden to my children.
Phillymiss – here’s the thing about becoming ill when you are older – most of the time that involves some level of cognitive impairment that renders you unaware that you are ill or a burden, and/or not able to make that decision independently. I’ve worked with a LOTTTTTT of elderly patients dealing with post stroke or neurodegenerative disorders – not a single one of them has volunteered to go live in a nursing home. Its easy to say when you’re young and healthy, but its not how real life actually works out.
I think Ms. Garraway is a brave women for taking this issue on.
Amanda – I think what you would call “judgyness” comes from the fact that many people have very deep regret about not having kids. It concerns me that people live to realize they missed out on life’s greatest joys. It concerns me most because they often make their choices based on a distorted picture of what raising children is like.
Amanda, it is not about talking people who don’t want kids into having kids but about talking to people who do want kids but have accepted the lie that waiting until their older is the best thing to do for everyone and in every circumstance. Sometimes when you wait, you lose your opportunity. This lie about waiting until your older to have kids is particularly attractive and convincing to twenty year-olds in prime physical health who think they are invincible and will always remain that way. The young simply don’t understand the aging process as much as older people do.
As long as the woman is fertile and her husband has viable sperm, GO FOR IT, I say!!! The more the merrier this world.
LOL!!!!
The young simply don’t understand the aging process as much as older people do.
LOL!!!
That’s the funniest understatement I’ve read in a long time.
Tyler – there is a big difference between “I don’t understand the aging process” and “That won’t happen to me”.
Any woman who knows how to read and lives in the United States knows how the aging process affects fertility, but they simply convince themselves they won’t be a statistic. That’s their choice. Worrying about other peoples potential regrets is just as much of a waste of time as judging them. Of all the things to worry about… women I don’t know choosing to delay childbirth or not have children at all is somewhere below “are we eating too much garlic as a people”.
Amanda – yes, you’re right there is not much difference between garlic and children.