Articles Contained in SIRS Enduring Issues 2006.

Originally Published: Why Newborns Cause Acrimony and Alimony, May 2005; pp. 27-29.

"Babies enter a couple's life through birth, adoption, or remarriage, creating new relationships, responsibilities, and joys. Whether a surprise, planned, or long sought, most babies are preceded with increased excitement, careful preparations, and growing hopes. Tiny clothing is bought; bedrooms are repainted; the best safety furniture and carriers obtained. Parents-in-waiting attend prenatal classes, scour books for information, and tolerate bushels of uninvited advice from family, friends, and strangers. Many couples seem overprepared, if such a thing is possible. Yet, in the midst of this nearly obsessive planning and preparing, something often evades notice: about one in 10 couples divorce before their first child begins school. How can a baby generate such a series of emotional tidal waves that so often culminate in acrimony and alimony?" (USA TODAY MAGAZINE) The author discusses how "differences in expectations of what parenting will bring to the marriage, and how to handle children, money, power, decisions, and chores all factor into the stresses that erode so many unions."

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