A Baby? ... Maybe: A Guide to Making the Most Fateful Decision of Your Life

by Elizabeth M. Whelan

Book Overview

No Synopsis Available.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0672521865
• ISBN13: 9780672521867
• Release Date: January 1975
• Publisher: Bobbs-Merrill
• Length: 237 Pages
• Weight: 0.75 lbs.

Customer Reviews

I bought this book 32 year ago...still a beloved reference in my house.

I bought this book when I was in college in 1975. Reading this book was literally the first time I ever saw in print that adults could chose to not have children. The book is balanced and fair. It gave me the strength to make decisions about my family which affect my every day life, over 30 years later. I made my future husband read it and it impacted him as much as it did me. 3 or 4 years ago I found Dr.Whelan and told her this how much this book meant to me. She responded with a delightful letter. The book is a real gem and if you are fence-sitting the child issue, find a copy and read it!

Well-rounded and useful

In making my own decision about whether to become a parent, I have read many books on the subject. Most are biased, too narrowly focused, or simply devoid of original information. This one, although over 30 years old, is by far the best: it offers a multi-dimensional look at the drawbacks and rewards of both paths. Of course a book can't make the decision for you, but this one helps provide the tools for decision making, and presents them in a truly neutral voice that is far ahead of its time.

Excellent guide

This landmark book introduced the idea that having children ought to be something we think deeply about. It guided me many years ago in making that most fateful decision not to have children. It was Whelan who offered this simple, but invaluable bit of advice: Remember that whichever decision you make--to have children or not--you must always expect moments in the future when you will wonder if you made the right decision. This book should be required reading of anyone of child-bearing age. Child bearing and child rearing should be a matter of choice, not of obligation. Whelan argues and illustrates this idea well.