[ladysusan]

unfortunately, not every abandoning father is from the "inner city". joel steinberg was a rich attorney. this girl apparently was at least middle class- how likely is it that the baby's father was lower class? nah, he's probably every bit as middle class as she is.

here's a more general question: should unwed fathers be held accountable for the children they help procreate?


lady susan

[ladysusan]

unfortunately, not every abandoning father is from the "inner city". joel steinberg was a rich attorney. this girl apparently was at least middle class- how likely is it that the baby's father was lower class? nah, he's probably every bit as middle class as she is.



pardon my brain fart re: joel steinberg. that's what i get for multi tasking when i shoud be paying more attention.

[hot august night]

You are right about Steinberg being upper-class (Andrea Yates was middle class)...it just seems a lot of the stories we are hearing right now are about "inner city" cases... Should unwed fathers be responsible for the children they procreate?

For their financial welfare, absolutely. If a child is abused by her unwed mother, though, I don't think the unwed father should automatically be ordered to "adopt" the child...he may also be an unfit parent, and can end up heaping more misery upon the child because he will never love for it or care for it. I only wish we still lived in the day and age when people used to get married before having kids -- and then worked hard at saving the marriage before thinking of divorce (no "disposable marriages"). At the same time, however, some people are better off divorced than married...I am divorced (no kids) and it was a very painful -- and non-impulsive -- decision.