© Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc.. 3 Preparing for Parenting.


3Preparing for Parenting


Key Terms

• indirect costs• foregone income• maternity leave• paternity leave• Family and Medical

Leave Act• family planning• birth control

methods• infertile

• sterile• fertility counseling• assisted reproductive

technologies (ARTs)• artificial insemination• in vitro fertilization

(IVF)• gamete intrafallopian

transfer (GIFT)• surrogate mother


Objective

• Explain why parenting is more difficult than other jobs.


Why Is It Hard to Be a Good Parent?

• Not an automatic activity• Involves relationships with people• Formal training does not occur • No specific age requirement• Lack of early training within the family

– live far from relatives– professionals provide child care


Deciding About Parenthood


Objective

• Analyze some of the motivations for and against parenthood.


Reasons for Choosing Parenthood

• “We want to share our love with a child.”

• “Wouldn’t it be nice to have a cute baby?”

• “Our parents want grandchildren.”

• “Our older child needs a brother or sister.”

• “A child can make us proud.”

• “Others will see me as a stable, reliable person.”

• “A child will comfort us in our old age.”

• “A child will make us love each other.”


Reasons for Not Choosing Parenthood

• “We’re not ready for a child.”• “A baby costs a lot.”• “A child will tie us down.”• “A child will interfere with our careers.”• “Our child could be sick or have a

disability.”• “Our marriage could fail, and I don’t

want to be a single parent.”


Objective

• Identify factors to consider before becoming a parent.


How Children Affect Parents

• Raising children is another name for parenting

• Parenting is two-directional• Parents must want and be willing to

change along with a baby over many years– Galinsky’s parenting stages


Galinsky’s Parenting Stages


How Children Affect Relationships

• Couples look at the strengths and weaknesses of present relationships– strengths should balance each other– children do not strengthen weak marriages

• Couples examine relationships by asking questions about their feelings for others– questions should relate to parenting

continued



• Couples should think about how their relationship with their partner would change if they were parents

continued



• Good relationships with others are positive for the couple and their possible children

• Examine how relationships with others will affect children– relatives/friends provide first link to world– older relatives teach children about past– relatives/friends who care for children help

them feel more rooted to family


Sharing Responsibilities

• Examine feelings regarding home care responsibilities

• Address the sharing of responsibilities and how a child will change shared responsibilities


Managing Finances

• Children are expensive– expenses grow as the child grows

• First baby is often the most expensive– additional children may use some of the

firstborn’s items

• Each additional child increases costs– a second child usually doubles costs

continued


Managing Finances

• Indirect costs are resources used to meet child-related costs

• Foregone income is the potential income lost by not being in the workforce– lost career

opportunities


Managing Careers

• Maternity leave is the time mothers take off work for birth or adoption– time varies– payment process varies– allows for bonding with child, rest for

mother

• Paternity leave is the time fathers take off work for birth or adoption– usually unpaid

continued


Managing Careers

• Family and Medical Leave Act protects rights of women and men to take unpaid maternity or paternity leave– applies to U.S. companies with more than

50 employees– grants 12 weeks unpaid leave each year– guarantees employee’s job or equal job

available upon return

continued


Managing Careers

• Employers must treat leave for childbirth and recovery as a medical disability– may require partial pay during maternity leave

continued


Managing Careers

• Parents should review employers’ leave policies before children are born or adopted– helps calculate

foregone income costs of various lengths of leave


Objective

• Describe effects of family planning.


Family Planning

• Family planning happens when a couple decides how many children they want and when to have them

• Couples can use birth control methods to help delay having children

• Personal choice• Physical health should be considered


What Do You Think?

• What types of questions would you ask a physician when seeking information about family planning?

• What type of life changes may necessitate a change in birth control methods?


Objective

• Explain physical and psychological problems of infertility.


Infertility and Sterility

• Couples who do not conceive within a year are known as infertile– about 37% of women under the age of 35

will later conceive• rate drops as women age

• Couples who are sterile are unable to conceive or carry a fully biological child

continued


Infertility and Sterility

• Causes include– reproductive diseases– problems with reproductive organs– certain diseases– some prescription drugs– exposure to drugs, chemicals, radiation– sexually transmitted infections– smoking– being overweight or underweight– aging


Objective

• Describe fertility methods.


Overcoming Infertility

• Fertility counseling consists of determining reasons for fertility problems and exploring treatment options– hormones or drugs– surgery

continued



• Couples may try assisted reproductive technologies (ARTs) to help them conceive

• Artificial insemination involves introducing sperm into the vagina or uterus by a medical procedure rather than by sexual relations

continued



• In vitro fertilization (IVF) involves surgically removing some of the mother’s eggs, fertilizing with sperm in a laboratory dish, and implanting in the mother’s uterus

continued



• Gamete intrafallopian transfer (GIFT) occurs when a mixture of sperm and eggs is placed in the woman’s fallopian tubes, where fertilization can occur– conception is more likely because more

than one egg is present– multiple pregnancy can occur

continued



• A surrogate mother is a woman who bears, or conceives and bears, a child for another couple

• Legal ramifications– fees/contracts– medical costs– reversing decisions

• surrogate decides to keep child• couple does not want child

continued



• Only about 50% effective– decreases with age

• Emotionally painful• Financial cost

– medical procedures– travel– medications

• Legal and ethical considerations


What Do You Think?

• What should happen to a surrogate mother who uses her egg and another couple’s sperm and then decides she wants to keep the baby and not give it to the couple after birth occurs?


• artificial insemination. Assisted reproductive technology (ART) procedure that involves introducing sperm into the vagina or uterus by a medical procedure rather than by sexual relations.

• assisted reproductive technologies (ARTs). Methods infertile couples can use to help them conceive.

Glossary of Key Terms


• birth control methods. Methods couples use to prevent conception.

• Family and Medical Leave Act. Law that protects the rights of the workers of large companies to take up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave per year for various family-related reasons.



• family planning. Decisions couples make about the desired number and spacing of future children.

• fertility counseling. Medical evaluation that seeks to determine the reasons for fertility problems and explore available treatment options.



• foregone income. Potential income given up by a parent who leaves the workforce and stays home to raise a child.

• gamete intrafallopian transfer (GIFT). Assisted reproductive technology (ART) procedure in which a mixture of sperm and eggs is placed in the woman’s fallopian tubes, where fertilization can occur.



• indirect costs. Resources used to meet child-related costs that could have been used to meet other goals.

• infertile. Term used to refer to a person who is unable to conceive after a year of trying.



• in vitro fertilization (IVF). Assisted reproductive technology (ART) procedure in which some of the mother’s eggs are surgically removed, fertilized with sperm in a laboratory dish, and then implanted in the mother’s uterus.



• maternity leave. Time a woman takes off from work for the birth or adoption of a child.

• paternity leave. Time a man takes off from work (usually without pay) for a set period after a child’s birth or adoption.



• sterile. Condition of being permanently unable to conceive or carry fully biological children.

• surrogate mother. Woman who bears (sometimes both conceives and bears) a child for a couple.


© Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc.. 3 Preparing for Parenting.

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Transcript of © Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc.. 3 Preparing for Parenting.