Now, this topic is near and dear to my heart because I am extremely pro-family. With this continual pattern I've seen and studied throughout the course of my major, I've asked myself the question, "WHY?"
Time magazine did a feature called, "The Childfree Life" earlier last month which perfectly supports this theme. You can find the online article here. Sandler quotes, "The decision to have a child or not is a private one, but it takes place, in America, in a culture that often equates womanhood with motherhood... women who choose not to become mothers are finding new paths of acceptance. As their ranks rise, so do positive attitudes about leading a life in which having it all doesn't mean having a baby."
I found this to be both sad and heartbreaking realizing that many women are begining to conform to this new lifestyle.
The First Presidency of the Church states, "Motherhood is near to divinity. It is the highest, holiest service to be assumed by mankind. It places her who honors its holy calling and service next to the angels."
And these women simply don't care.
In 1958 the US birth rate resided at 3.81 children per women.
In 1971 it declined to 2.71
and it now sits right about 2 children per women.
One of the reasons for childlessness is that individuals worldwide are simply waiting longer to get married, IF they even get married. Childlessness is either voluntary or involuntary, and when women prolong starting a family, they risk the possibility of not being able to bear children. The world is also experiencing a rise in cohabitation (men and women moving in together, living together, but not marrying.) as well as a dramatic increase in the divorce rate. Although the National US divorce rate is near 50%, the LDS divorce rate is 45%, not much lower. These dangerously scary trending patterns make me wonder if the world will ever recover from the traumatic choices made that ever so greatly affect the family.
I came across a blog that has changed my world. Earlymama.com's Michelle Horton has created an entire community full of women who support the idea of marriage and young families. She expresses the benefits that come from not postponing what matters most: families. I found this Christian mother's beliefs and opinions to line up exactly with my own. One opposing follower stated in regarding to starting a family,
"Heck no, we are not starting a family. We just got out of college. It's time for us to explore the world and have some fun. Getting married and starting a family is a lot of responsiblity, and I don't want to deal with that until I get all the "fun" out of my system first. I know one day, I will get married and start a family, but i'm still very young right now. Justwant to make as much mmoney as possible and have as much fun as possible now, and then we'll talk about commitment in the future."
At the end of the day, we each have our agency. I'm grateful for the gospel and for the guidelines and encouragement that it provides me with. Children are a blessing.
“Whosoever shall receive one of such children in my name, receiveth me:
and whosoever shall receive me, receiveth … him that sent me.”
