Monday, June 12, 2006

No Kidding?!

There were two interesting segments starting Hour 2 of Weekend America this weekend.

The first is about a support organization for couples who choose to have no children. In the case they give here, the man in the couple actually has a vasectomy when he's only 23.
No Kidding

(Listen)

There's a conference this weekend in Toronto called the "5th Annual Child-Free Festival." It's for people who don't have kids and are adamant about keeping it that way. Vincent and Laura Ciaccio will be there, as they have been for the past five years. Married and in their 20's, the two decided when they were dating that they didn't want to have children. Weekend America's Barbara Bogaev talks with them about their decision.

Online resources:

These couples have decided they would rather live childless and find other childless couples so that they can go out and be social (bowling, etc.) with them.

Many of these couples started out thinking that they might someday want a single child or just weren't really sure... But once they learned that they COULD have the option to have NO children (that is, the found out lots of other people did this too), then they let themselves decide on that instead.

The particular couple interviewed says that if either of them ever wants to have kids, that would be the end of their relationship.

Some people don't think this sounds natural. Well, the second segment gives the opinion of an evolutionary biologist (with three kids himself) that says that this is healthy behavior -- perhaps even necessary.
A Life Without Kids

(Listen)

Professor David Barash is not entirely surprised by people like Laura and Vincent, making the decision not to have kids. He's an evolutionary biologist who studies how living things reproduce. Barbara Bogaev and Bill Radke talk with him about free will and this latest trend against what some see as a biological imperative.

Online resources:

So that's interesting...

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