The Case for Only Child: Your Essential Guide

Description

What's really wrong with having one child? Is one enough for you? For your partner? What constitutes a complete, happy family? Will your only child be lonely, spoiled, bossy, selfish? Read this book and find out. Despite the personal distress and pressure to have a second baby, the number of women having an only child has more than doubled in the last two decades. What most people don't realize is that one-child families outnumber families with two children and have for more than two decades. In major metropolitan areas like New York, 30 percent of families have a singleton. Throughout the country people are following suit. And it's no wonder why: The worrisome biological clock (secondary infertility; older mothers) Downtrodden job markets How mothers working affects everyone in the family Finances and housing and costs of education These are only the few things that parents today (and parents to be) contend with when deciding to start a family and determining whether or not to stop after one. The time is right for a book that addresses the emerging type of nuclear family, one that consists of a solo child. Popular Psychology Today blogger and parenting author of fifteen books, including the groundbreaking Parenting the Only Child, Susan Newman, Ph.D., grew impatient with the pervasiveness of only-child folklore masquerading as fact and offers the latest findings about the long-term effects of being raised as a singleton. In The Case for the Only Child, Newman walks parents (and future parents) through the long list of factors working for and against them as well as highlights the many positive aspects of raising and being a singleton. The aim of this book is to ease and guide parents through the process of determining what they want. Although each situation is unique, the profound confusion surrounding having a second child is similar. It is one of the most difficult and life-altering choices parents face. Adding to one's family dramatically changes one's life and the life of one's firstborn forever. What will a person give up in time, money, freedom, intimacy, and job advancement with another child in the household? What will they gain? The Case for the Only Child helps explore and resolve these perplexing questions.

Susan Newman, Ph.D., is a social psychologist and the author of 15 nonfiction books about parenting and issues affecting family life. She taught at Rutgers University and is a featured speaker/workshop facilitator on family life and children's issues. Susan is the author of the classic book Parenting the Only Child and blogs for Psychology Today magazine. Visit the author at www.susannewmanphd.com.

"Susan Newman has written a delightful, honest, and readable book that explores a complex issue-whether to have more than one child. She presents and explores every possible conflict and scenario with compassion for all sides of the issue and for all members of the family." -Jane Mattes, LCSW, author of Single Mothers by Choice, www.singlemothersbychoice.org "Once again, Susan Newman brings some common sense to modern parenting, this time with very valid reasons for having an only child. Whether you're feeling pressure to have another baby from your parents, your neighbors, or your kid, The Case for the Only Child provides the socioeconomic and psychological proof that maybe your gut-and your wallet-are right." -Jen Singer, author of Stop Second-Guessing Yourself guides to parenting. "I love books that present good news most people don't know about. This is such a book. Susan Newman lets you know that far from being damaged, only children can have it made! As a parent, you can have one and be done, and Dr. Newman shows you why. Good-bye guilt, welcome the fulsome joy of being parents to a one-and-only!" -Edward Hallowell, M.D., author of The Childhood Roots of Adult Happiness and other books "For anyone debating the issue of 'filling your nest, but how full?' this book is a wise and empowering read. As the mother of an only child and the founder of MotherhoodLater.com, a community for midlife -mothers, I know the self-doubt and judgment that some parents experience. Susan Newman offers a validating and refreshing pat on the back for those going the only-child route." -Robin Gorman Newman, Founder/Parenting Blogger, www.MotherhoodLater.com "Are only children spoiled, lonely, and selfish? Finally, a valuable resource for those who have or are considering one child. A powerful book, The Case for the Only Child challenges misguided advice from family and friends, reveals the facts about only one child, and teaches how to handle unwanted pressure and self-doubt. Only you can define what family means, and this book gives you the confidence to embrace that view. A must-read that will free you of any guilt or shame you might feel for not wanting (or not having) another child. This book is a gift." -Alex Barzvi, Ph.D., Assistant Clinical Professor of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at the NYU Medical Center and cohost of About Our Kids on Sirius XM's Doctor Radio. "The Case for the Only Child is an informative, well thought-out review of the controversies that surround the issues of family size. Newman debunks the stereotypes and myths about only children, answering tough questions about what it means to be a family and how to handle social and medical pressures, including the rising rates of secondary infertility." -Marc Goldstein, M.D., Professor of Reproductive Medicine and Urology at Weill Cornell Medical College of Cornell University and coauthor of A Baby at Last!