Posted on 05/13/2006 3:19:35 PM PDT by george76
Randi Anderson knew she was on her own the day her son was born 22 months ago when she drove herself to the hospital.
Long before Anderson pulled up to Swedish Medical Center, her film-school boyfriend was gone.
Twenty hours after she arrived at the hospital, she joined the growing ranks of single mothers.
It is a group that often feels isolated, suffers higher-than-normal rates of depression and believes it carries a stigma in a culture that celebrates marriage.
"I certainly feel like it's written across my face," Anderson, 34, said.
"We've been told it's not OK to be a single mom."
Mother's Day is increasingly celebrated without fathers in this country.
In 2004, 36 percent of all births were to unmarried women, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports, even as the teenage pregnancy rate fell...
Anderson's decision created obstacles many couples don't face -- two fewer hands to change diapers, feed the baby and give baths -- she used her experiences to create a new resource for Seattle's single mothers.
Sunday, Anderson will celebrate Mother's Day with other single moms at a potluck brunch, marking the six-month anniversary of the support group, Single2Mother, an online community that she founded.
The group represents one of a few private efforts to help single mothers, whose numbers jumped from 3 million in 1970 to 10 million in 2000.
(Excerpt) Read more at seattlepi.nwsource.com ...
Not exactly the model of male responsibility here.
Yes, it's *society's* fault that she feels isolated, not the "film school" loser she chose to get preggers with. < sigh >
I believe that Seattle leads the USA in white, single motherhood.
And, there are mothers getting child support from boyfriends that are not the fathers of the child. In Washington, if your girlfriend with 2 kids moves in; and you allow it. If she stays for 30 days, then moves out; you may get hit with child-support even though the child is not 'yours'.
The way the courts intpret this, is when she moved in; you agreed to provide for the children. So, when she moved out; she gets to take a chunk of your paycheck until the kids are 18. There are instances of each child brining in 4 separate child-support payments; from unfortunate guys who thought they had a real relationship.
Ah, Liberalism ..... and people wonder why men do not want relationships.
Clearly she's not listening!
I know a number of women who have started off as single moms and then found a husband later. It needn't be a lifestyle. Besides the fact that there are single moms and there are single moms. Ones that got into that situation through unfortunate choices or circumstances but then made the best of it. And others who are welfare leeches and negligent parents. It's impossible to generalize.
I am like SEW ashamed of my inconsiderate attitude that two people who pledge a commitment to one another and who seek to join their wills in a sacrificial covenant which can provide a secure and healthful environment in which children can grow assured of love and security (run on sentence alert!) is a good thing.
If I were more open-minded I would see that joining bodies without joining hearts and producing children with no thought for their health and well-being is JUST as GOOD, and possibly even BETTER than marriage because it shows a more independent and unconventional spirit.
I'm sorry you silly twit. We will try to help and to support women in your situation because we're reluctant to throw people overboard. But, guess what. You did a damn silly thing, as did the SOB who impregnated you. There SHOULD be a stigma attached to this.
grrrrr!
( Liberals in a Blue State )
These feminazis represent the end of our society as we know it. Their kiddies will grow up to be RATs like their moms. Tie this to the stagnation of our schools and to millions of Spanish speaking illegals and we have political and societal chaos.
There used to be a name for girls who couldn't keep their knees together.
Horseback riders?
With no significant exceptions that I'm aware of, all cultures throughout history have celebrated marriage.
For the very simple reason that cultures which don't tend to collapse and disappear (or by conquered by cultures that do).
Anywho, I'd appreciate an example of a culture that was indifferent to marriage or that approved of "single motherhood." I suspect ours is more accepting of her situation than any other in history, and here she is complaining about oppression.
Just like the feminists. Most equality for women in history, and they spend all their time whining about the patriarchy.
Randi is a whore who lacks self-respect just like all the other women indulging in "shack up" relationships.
She reaps what she sows.
It's not ideal, by any means. But it's better than killing the kid, which is the socially accepted thing to do.
Aren't you forgetting female responsibility? Why did she get pregnant with a man with which she wasn't married?
Adoption was always an option for her.
As Dr Laura says, it's best for the child to have an intact two parent home.
In high school in northern Virginia, it was said there were two kinds of girls: those who liked horses, and those who liked boys.
Well, she would avoid being called a "whore" if she killed it.
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