I'm not trying to justify anything by either party – mainly trying to make the point to other men who give a hoot about their hypothetical unborn children that in today's world they need to be extra careful.

Oh come on, Wendy! As a fellow woman you should be ashamed of yourself for denigrating the intelligence of other women- namely assuming that it is the man's fault that the woman couldn't seem to judge if the guy with whom she was shacking up was an a**hole or not. They sure know how to pick 'em! Those guys who ran off are jerks, sure, but I have always wondered why the woman who is the "victim" settled for such a loser. There are good guys out there- but chances are you won't find them at the nearest frat party. Close your legs, ladies, and if you want a good man don't settle for the first idiot that drunkenly compliments your breasts.

Your mom sounds like an exceptional woman and you sound like a good man.

Not all single moms should be generalized as *bad* and there are a lot of women who find themselves in that situation despite trying everything in their power to keep a family together. Sometimes guys just bail– and that’s not okay.

The only single mother issue that bothers me are the women who deliberately conceive a child with no intention of having any kind of male influence in the picture. The Hollywood influence the author is talking about are the women, like Jodie Foster who use artificial insemination to conceive a child on her own. Or women like Sheryl Crow who adopt just so they can experience motherhood. Maybe they have a plan for making sure those kids have father figures, but it’s not out in the open and young women who think their lifestyles are glamorous might try to emulate their example. Most people will have enough sense not to do that– but some will. Just take the mom of the octuplets. I don’t know for sure, but she sure seems like she’s attempting to emulate Angelina Jolie.