Human Matters with Sami Parker: Single motherhood by choice?

In episode seven of Human Matters, a video series hosted by Sami Parker and powered by Live Action, Parker explores a growing trend in which women are purposely choosing to become single mothers, primarily through IVF.

"Why are women choosing to do this?" Parker asks. "Why are we opting to pay tens of thousands of dollars, go through intensive and emotional IVF transfers, and in doing all of this, signing up to raise a child as a solo parent on purpose? But also, what does this mean for the children of these women who choose to pursue motherhood without a present father?"

Key Takeaways:

• In Human Matters episode seven, host Sami Parker looks at why so many women are choosing to become single mothers through IVF.

• She says that many modern feminists don't like men, and think they can raise a child without one.

• This thinking disregards the needs of the child, who deserves to have both a mother and a father.

• Parker concludes with the idea that adults need to speak up for the rights of children, even if that means getting pushback from others

The Details:

Why are Women Doing This… And Why Is it A Trend?

Parker first tackles the question of why women are choosing to become single mothers. One of the problems she mentions is a modern feminist movement that promotes the hatred of men.

"The feminist view of men is that they are by default just brash and harsh, abusive, and cheaters," Parker explains, noting "if the overall opinion of men is that they’re basically useless and problematic, then of course, women are trying to avoid men in every aspect of their lives, even in the pursuit of having children."

That decision, though, has consequences for the children involved. Parker asks:

The most important question here is: what is this decision to create babies without fathers doing to the babies? That should ultimately be the thing we are most concerned about- more so than our good desire to ease the suffering and meet the wants of adults should be our responsibility to protect the rights and well-being of children.

She offers many statistics indicating that fatherless children are worse off.

"To put it simply, and it’s a really basic idea, children need and have a right to the two people responsible for creating them," she says.

She goes on to note that there are situations in which a person may have an absent or abusive father, or the mother may become a single mother through circumstances outside her control.

"But is the painful childhood without a good or present father a situation we should intentionally replicate for another child?" she asks.

She points out:

To further prove the point that we ought not allow this intentional single motherhood trend to be a thing: we look at kids who have lost one or both of their parents because of neglect or death and we feel great sympathy with them- rightly so. We recognize they have lost something great.

The Bottom Line:

Parker concludes with the idea that adults need to speak up for the rights of children, even if that means getting pushback from others.

Though the desire to have children can be good and understandable, all children deserve both a mother and a father who are in a stable, loving relationship.