I have been living on my own since
I was seventeen. Without birth control I don't know
what I would have done. I am one of the few girls
I know who hasn't had an abortion. --Sara, age
19
At 32, I reached my
midlife crisis. By this time I knew I could
not stay in my marriage. It was a desperate feeling
that the entire framework I had so carefully constructed
to make myself the ideal wife of the 1950s and Supermom
of the '60s had collapsed. We were both so young when
we started out that we had grown into people who never
would have married if we had met at this point. We
divorced when our children were teenagers.
Since then I've been lucky enough to forge a new family
with Alex, my life partner. We've had no children
together but we have blended our two
families into a new mix enriched by each member and
woven into a whole cloth of love.
One thing is clear: The ability to make choices has
changed the landscape of family formation and the
dynamics of sexual power in America. Now women, too,
can enjoy their sexuality without fear of pregnancy.
Similarly, women who cannot conceive are valued for
themselves, not cast aside as they once would have
been. When men nd women are equal partners in all
life's endeavors, we are truly moving toward a world
of responsible choices and planned, wanted children.
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