ABSTRACT
The American population has declined for the first time in history. This may be related to accessibility to birth control, increased educational opportunities for women, and professional lives outside the parameters of motherhood. Although recent changes in population growth could reflect changing attitudes about the symbiosis of parenthood and adulthood, social pressures such as pressures from pronatalist groups, social media, and friends and family still hold women accountable for deviating from the primary role of mother. For those who want to conceive and can’t, the presence of alternative routes to parenthood such as assisted reproductive technologies, egg and sperm donation, embryo adoption, surrogacy, and adoption further complicate internal and social pressures about how to become parents … or if it is the right decision. Throughout this chapter, personal choices and nontraditional options regarding parenthood are explored. The chapter also includes a list of suggested responses and strategies when asked, “When are you having children?”
