The purpose of this web site is twofold: to bring attention to the personal dilemmas both women and men face when dealing with an unplanned pregnancy; and to provide a forum to discuss ways we-- in our private lives and together as a community---can do to reduce our Nation's off the charts rates of both unintended and unwanted pregnancies.
Albuquerque, NM 87122
ph: 505 301 4283
carolmca
Every woman should be as thrilled as this woman is upon hearing "You are pregnant.!"
Sadly, that isn' t always the case.
Close to 1 out of 2 pregnancies are unplanned--about 2.5 million every year —about twice as many people as live in San Diego, CA., and most are not only unintended, they are unwanted. Too many women who find themselves facing this situation say, "I didn't think it could happen to me." How can this be? Why do we have so many unintended and unwanted pregnancies? And how does an unintended pregnancy affect our lives?
One thing for sure: Despite the Hollywood driven mythology that “everything works out for the best,” it usually doesn’t. In real life there are no simple answers, no quick fixes. Every option, from abortion to adoption to raising the child, plays out as its own unnerving drama, one that is played again and again.
From Carol Cassell Ph.D
Some things to think about...
Most of us, at some point in our lives, no matter how flawed, learned at least something about the birds and the bees and how babies are made and not made. But clearly we don’t always put those lessons to good use.
Here in the US we have one of the highest unplanned pregnancy rates in the industrialized world: even higher than Mexico, Spain, and Italy.
In my research, I'll reveal what our media’s obsession with celebrity “surprise” baby bumps leaves out of the picture by exposing the emotionally daunting dilemmas facing a woman when she finds herself unintentionally pregnant.
And I'll look into how men feel when they learn she is pregnant.
Some truths...
A baby isn’t born on a desert island. In ways, large and small, we—the public—pay the price of billions of dollars every year taking care of children born to people who are overwhelmed or unprepared to raise them. But the economic costs are only a small part of the overall picture: they don’t begin to reflect the very real human cost of family disruption and lost opportunities.
Consider the painful reality about the outcome of most unwanted pregnancies: thousands of vulnerable and loving children are born every day to people who are not able to take care of them. Each year, about 900,000 children are reported as abused or neglected. About 520,000 of those children end up in foster care each year—double the number 25 years ago—and 40,000 of them are infants!
This much is for sure: the sheer complexity of the forces driving unwanted pregnancy means that no single or simple remedy is likely to “solve” the problem. There is, however, a glimmer of hope.
While the situation is critical --it is possible to stem the tide. Here I'll offer my expert advice and hope to hear from you and learn about your opinions and advice.
How is it that a woman gets “knocked up” given that contraception is available everywhere? My answers: A) the siren song of sex is so seductive and powerful that most of us have thrown caution out of the bedroom window at least once or twice and took a risk by having sex without using effective protection;
and B) she didn’t do it all by herself
I'm working on a book about the real stories behind unplanned pregnancy, and I would love to hear from you!
You are invited to participate and talk abut your experiences. I hope you will share with me your own honest and unsparing stories about falling into the trap of an unwanted pregnancy.
On the flip side: it isn't always all bad. For some women and men there is a happy ending. I would love to hear about your positive experiences about an unplanned pregnancy...one that turned into a wanted child!
Go to my contact page...and be assured, your experiences will be completely confidental.
In the near future, I'll offer a list of sites with good information about dealing with unintended pregnancy as well as other research information.
Albuquerque, NM 87122
ph: 505 301 4283
carolmca