CHILDLESS HOMES AND REAL HOMES--CAUSES OF STERILITY
Whatever may be the motive that causes men and women to enter into
matrimony, the social reason is the perpetuation of the human race.
Herbert Spencer says, "The welfare of the family underlies the welfare
of society." Therefore those who marry for convenience or with the
avowed intention of not assuming the obligations of parenthood have not
the welfare of the human race at heart and are a menace to society in
its highest form.
Childless homes are not the happy homes, anyhow! Their occupants usually
are dissatisfied; the women are nervous, irritable and unhappy; the men
are seeking happiness elsewhere. The homes childless from choice should
receive our condemnation, but the homes childless from necessity should
receive our commiseration. The latter are much more prevalent than many
of our race suicide agitators would admit. These are too prone to blame
the woman for what is not her choice. We hear so much about the higher
education of women promoting race suicide. A recent investigation
carried on by a well-known magazine has proven that such is not the
case. The college girls and the professional women desire children much
more than do the factory girls. But these college girls realize that
quality is as necessary as quantity. They do not desire to bring into
the world weak, puny offspring. These college girls are beginning to
make motherhood a science. What the results will be we can only
anticipate.
A normal woman, who has not become imbued with false ideas and fear,
desires children. She realizes that motherhood, if rightly carried out,
is a privilege and not a curse; it is the woman who has been falsely
educated who dreads motherhood. This morning I received a letter which
shows the prevailing attitude of many girls. The writer says:
"I am twenty-two years of age but strange to say I am ignorant as far as
knowledge about the origin of life, etc., is concerned. I am a business
girl, drawing a good salary, and have many gentleman and lady friends. I
am the oldest child of a large family of moderate means and have been
brought up under Christian principles and possess a goodly amount of
common sense. I long have been anxious in regard to this important
subject but never have asked anyone for advice, shuddering to do so,
feeling that if I had a chance to ask a lady with knowledge, as a nurse
or some such person, I would do so. But to tell the truth, I did not
care to find out such things, but I realize the fact that I must know in
order to guard myself; for that is something no one can do for me at a
critical moment. I have no less than three gentleman admirers, but I
have no desire to be a married woman for a long time to come, but I feel
that I must be armed with the knowledge of right and wrong. I shudder on
account of _fear_ to think of becoming a mother. I hear so much of
woman's pains and aches and the such, that I often think I would prefer
to remain single all my life, although I am perfectly healthy and a
happy, cheerful girl. My mother is, and always will be, too busy to tell
me about such matters, although I had a right to know long ago. As you
say, an ignorant, innocent girl would be guilty before the world if
something wrong should happen to her and in most cases it is not her
fault. Can you give me the desired information or can you recommend some
good book? If so, I assure you that your efforts will be greatly
appreciated."
This letter certainly indicates that the writer has a good amount of
common sense. The trouble is she has become over-impressed with the
possibilities of pain, and never has been told the wonderful truths that
would overcome this fear. If love is the greatest thing in the world,
fear and its companion, worry, certainly are the greatest curses of
humanity. And the most pitiful part is that this fear and worry usually
result from ignorance which a little instruction at the right time could
dispel so easily. It is the unknown things that we fear. When any
trouble actually comes we find strength enough to meet it, and, anyway,
it usually is not half as bad in the reality as in the prospect. Young
girls hear so much about the pains of childbirth that this fear
overshadows the natural longings for motherhood. It is not until
motherhood is an actual fact that they realize the happiness is worth
all the cost.
But this fear is not what actually makes many childless homes. They
often are unpremeditated. A large percentage of the sterility in the
world is due to the results of indiscretions that are the outcome of
ignorance. One great factor in childless homes is the prevalence of the
black plagues. It is estimated that forty-five per cent. of sterile
marriages are due to that seemingly mild disease which is regarded as no
worse than a cold and which has been contracted either by the man or the
woman. This disease does not disqualify the woman alone, as was formerly
thought, for recent investigations have proven that twenty-five per
cent. of the sterile marriages are due to sterility of the male. Oh, the
innumerable women who have submitted to unpleasant treatments and even
operations in the hope of overcoming sterility when all the time the
fault was elsewhere! The microscope has proven that even though a man
may seemingly be healthy and capable of sustaining the marriage
relation, yet his efforts are valueless; for the spermatozoa, the
life-giving element, are dead, due usually to an inflammation which
accompanied an attack of this seemingly mild disease,--gonorrhoea.
This disease is responsible for many of the one child marriages. How
often we see a family with only one child, this child born during the
first year of married life, then there are no more pregnancies. The
woman probably has contracted a disease from her husband and, during the
period immediately following the birth of her baby when the entire
generative system is in a condition to easily become inflamed, the tubes
have become closed. Another pregnancy is very unlikely.
Another factor in sterility is abortions. So many times we hear a young
married woman say, "I do not want a child the first year, but after that
I would like one." In order to carry out her desires it is not uncommon
for an abortion to be performed during the first few months. In many
cases an inflammation follows this interference and the tubes become
closed permanently. Then when the woman is ready to have a child it is
impossible. Girls about to enter marriage should be cognizant of this
possibility and not take any risks, for few women would do anything
voluntarily that would condemn them to childless lives.