ABSTRACT
The experiences of wanting, having, and rearing children are among the most personally and societally important in the human repertoire. In one way or another, psychological theories from psychoanalysis to evolutionary psychology have put mating and parenting at their very core. Despite the obvious importance of parenting and being parented, psychologists have tended to study parenting generally and mothering particularly, in narrow, largely negative ways. When aspects of mothering are the focus of research, the spotlight is often turned on problematic aspects: teen pregnancy, postpartum depression, and how problems with the child reflect maternal inadequacies. Characterizations of mothers who are poor or members of ethnic minorities are particularly judgmental and harsh.
When reproductive issues such as infertility and abortion are studied, too often the assumption is that women who are affected by these experiences are scarred for life, when, in fact, research evidence points to women’s resilience and resourcefulness in coping with these issues. The psychological richness of the experiences of pregnancy and giving birth has barely been mined. We need more research on effective 341strategies for enhancing women’s mental health through these life-altering events, and on societal supports for motherhood, fatherhood, and families. Meanwhile, research on new reproductive technologies is providing some solutions to problems such as infertility and challenging the world with new options, such as the promise of sex selection of off-spring. Psychologists can and do directly address many of the questions posed by these developments, and we need to step up our efforts to play a constructive role in the public discourse on parenting and reproductive issues.
