Family Planning Counsel

THE greatest psychological blessing that can be conferred upon a child at birth is to be wanted by his parents. Conversely, an enviable asset for new parents is to be in a position to welcome wholeheartedly the new addition to the family. This is not to say that all unplanned pregnancies are unwanted or that they turn out badly, but that there is an optimum readiness for parenthood and this readiness is too often neglected in our society at present. This neglect is in part an indictment of medical and public health practice. There is a striking contradiction-rarely noted-in the way our society regards readiness for the responsibilities of parenthood. There is virtually no interference or even cautionary suggestion against parenthood for married couples who are biologically able to reproduce. Even for the unmarried, social sanctions aginst pregnancy act chiefly as punishments or threats, without supporting prevention: the prospect of punishment often fails as a deterrent. Even couples who decide that they are unable to rear a child properly have been-and are still being-denied full information and necessary implements to practice birth control. There still exists a medical-social bias that favors pregnancy as the inevitable outcome of sexual intercourse, especially for the deprived segments of our population. In this circumstance of effective, albeit unconscious bias, no attention is paid to the quality of parenthood in store for the child-to-be, or of the wishes of the parents-to-be in regard to their own future, except perhaps to deny the right of conjugal love unless they wish to procreate. By way of contrast we note the plight of an infertile couple (especially one of mature years, mixed religion or race, or low income) who wish to be parents. For an approved adoption procedure they must be thoroughly evaluated as to their qualifications as parents, and many adoptive couples will testify to the emotional stress involved in presenting oneself for this

Duty · Family planning · Fiduciary · Neglect · Political science · Population · Psychiatry · Punishment (psychology · Sanctions · Ethics and Legal Issues in Pediatric Healthcare · Law · Medicine · Psychology · Reproductive Health and Technologies · Social Psychology

• Fertility and Family Planning in the United States

  Pascal Kidder Whelpton, Arthur A Campbell et al.•Fertility and Family Planning in…•1966

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