Single Parenting

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Articles on the Cause of the Rise in Single Parenting

What is causing the rise in single parenting? There is a definite trend to show that this is happening. The largest rise is in women in their mid thirties to early forties.

You cannot read a newspaper or search the internet without running into articles on the cause of the rise in single parenting.

There are many contributing factors in single parenting. It is no longer a high divorce rate. The divorce rat in the US has tapered off since the 1990's. The main factor is age and women know their biological clock is ticking.

So when they reach their mid thirties they really start thinking about having children, especially if they are single. What do you do when you are forty and single and have no children? There is a strong biological desire to reproduce – to have children.

Furthermore, many cultures put additional pressures on women without children. So feeling not only the biological pressures but social pressure as well, many women opt for single parenthood.

Single women and parenthood does not come without its problems. Many societies frown upon a single woman having children. There are definitely social, moral and religious issues that are raised and these must be thought through very carefully.

Most major religions feel intimate relations between a man and woman should only occur for the act of procreation. However, there is the implication that this encounter should take place within the confines of a marital relationship.

When a single woman uses a live donor instead of a sperm bank many moral issues are raised. There are also potential legal ramifications if the father is known and wishes to exert his parental rights later on.

Contract or no contract, the question is does the donor have moral and legal rights as a father. A sperm bank donor is not without its complications either.

In Judaism, for example, if the mother is Jewish and the donor is Jewish then the child is illegitimate by Jewish law and cannot marry another Jewish person. There are also many other complications with a sperm donor.

If the sperm from a single donor is used by more than one woman, it is possible that siblings could marry without knowing it.

This is not allowed legally in many locations but it is also against the consanguinity laws of many religions such as in Christianity and Judaism. It also raises many health and ethical questions.

Reading articles on the cause of the rise in single parenting will alert you to many of these issues. Are there options for single parenting without having a biological child? Yes, you can always adopt.

Adopting a child removes the moral and religious stigma associated with having a child out of wedlock. The act of adoption actually changes the whole perspective of single parenting from one that is morally and ethnically questionable to one that is honorable.

By adopting, you are helping a child in need. There are many children who need a loving parent. After reading all of the articles on the cause of the rise in single parenting, if your biological clock is ticking, why not consider adoption.

References:
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3324371,00.html

 

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