I agree that...
Our real world will never follow AS exactly, but parts might.
There are many people commenting on the similarities of AS with current events. I find myself trying to discover a practicable solution in Rand's writing but so far I have come up short. The only option I can see so far is to practice Objectivism on a personal level and demonstrate to others that it is possible to live an enjoyable, moral life.
Progress may not stop entirely, but it could slow to an imperceptible level. A new Dark Age is never out of the question. That is what Rand is warning us about.
Again I agree, that is why I wanted to compare AS with the real world. For us, unfortunately, there is no end in sight, be it Looters or Gulchers, just a never ending slug fest. I fear we will easily go beyond 1100 pages!
At this point, they had been married for 10 years. I could easily see Lillian, being the manipulative creature she is, likely would have let herself get pregnant as another means of control on Hank. Being wealthy, she knows or anticipates she doesn't have to deal with the nasty realities of runny noses or little bottoms.
But Hank is the real issue: would he have left? Would he have taken the child with him? In the real world, I'm pretty confident Hank would take the child with him. I can't see even the character of Hank Reardon of AS leaving his child behind to face destitution and starvation, esp since the child would be very young (< 10 yo). IMHO, Rand doesn't deal with the issue of children because a) her characters are ideal people, and she wants to focus on them. b) she had no real world experience herself and couldn't fit it into her philosophy. Which is too bad. How she would have dealt with the unearned, unconditional love, of a parent for their child would be interesting.