Kathy,

Well. I guess we'll end up agreeing to disagree. As I say I know only the
nominal info, and we could pull rabbits out of the hat all day long in
support of our individual opinions, but that wouldn't do well for much. I
just cannot see tearing natural mother from child in the name of single
parenthood because stats say the deck is stacked against her. I'd never do
that to my daughter had she messed up. We haven't the right to tell that to
this young lady's face, and by even saying it here in my mind holds equal
value as saying it to her face as it is the contents of our heart. And this
kid will grow up to be a thinking adult with questions and feelings as
well. I am surprised at the thread responses though. And also the father
ought pull up to the plate of responsibility as well and give support even
if they aren't suited for marriage. If aunt and uncle are willing to take
on the whole bit, they certainly could be an active support role for this
young lady and her child as well. I agree the number of years we are on
this earth do not constitute maturity as I know 30 year old adults that
don't match up to some teenagers. As for Dr. Laura, I like her no none
sense approach, but she is off at times and human and subject to mistakes
and  somewhat egotistical

Brad

At 11/08/2003 on Saturday, you wrote:
>Brad,
>I've listened to Doctor Laura enough to guess that she told the mother to
>go bback to college and give up the child because that would be in the
>best interest of both of them. The child would get a solit, loving, two
>parent home and the mother would get a fresh start so that, hopefully,
>some day, she can get things in the right order and be a healthy, mature
>mother for the children that she will have in the future. Sorry, but I
>agree with this one. Just because this mother made an impulsive mistake
>doesn't mean that she should be supported to keep the child and drag them
>both down when a better solution is available. Obviously, this mother
>must have thought well of her aunt and uncle and their ability to create
>a loving home for her child or they wouldn't have been considered in the
>first place. This mother, though 21, is still a child herself. Come on,
>do you still think the way you did when you were 21? Thank God I don't.
>IN western culture, most people aren't really mature until the late
>twenties no matter what artificial age the government wants to rubber
>stamp on it. Both the mother and the child have the best opportunity for
>success as things are!
>Another fact that hasn't been brought up is that this girl was post
>pardom. I think that Phil said that she had only had the baby eight days
>ago. Let me tell you, they don't call it baby blues for nothing. With two
>of my kids, I cried at everything! I was horribly emotional and
>unreasonable and I could have never predicted that ahead of time. With
>two of my kids I was great, but with the other two, the ones in which
>drugs during labor were involved, I was a literal basket case. I think
>that Greg deserves a gold star just for keeping me. There is no way that
>I could have been trusted to make a reasonable decision. I didn't know
>that I could be that off balance. This woman could be speaking out of
>that, not to mention that she is grieving. She is facing a loss, and it's
>a real one. Sorry, I think that things are best left as is.
>IN Him,
>Kathy
>
>________________________________________________________________
>The best thing to hit the internet in years - Juno SpeedBand!
>Surf the web up to FIVE TIMES FASTER!
>Only $14.95/ month - visit www.juno.com to sign up today!