by Ali Weetly

Created on: December 20, 2011   Last Updated: December 25, 2011

Reproduction is a wonderful part of life, which allows people to share their wisdom, knowledge, love, and lives with a child of their own. For centuries, this amazing ability that we have to reproduce has been treated with the care and marvel that it deserves to be treated. In the past century however, society has seen a drastic change to the way that reproduction and the ability to give life is perceived. What was once treated as a miracle and something to be shared between the mother and father is now becoming something that is looked upon in a callous view by many groups of people.

With the shift in gender equality over the past hundred years, women have become more and more prevalent in the workplace. This is wonderful news, as women are now able to have the choice as to whether they want to stay home with their family, or work to support themselves and their family. With this shift in roles however, women have begun to put having children on hold whilst they work on their career. Many women even see having a family at all as a hindrance to the lifestyle they would like to live. This callous look of reproduction has seen some working men and women have a more negative and even callous outlook on those who have chosen to have a family. 

Employers often see women as a risk because they may one day want to start a family. Whilst men are likely to have a week or two off when their babies are born, women having babies means that they often take months or years off work, and may even request to take part time hours or leave altogether. Employers have a legal requirement to adhere to parental responsibilities so if an employee wishes to change their working pattern because of their children, then the employer must do their best to accommodate this. This has again contributed to the callous view that many people have over reproduction, believing that people who have a family may be a risk to their employer.

Another stigma that is associated with reproduction is that some people who reproduce do not have the means to support themselves or their children, so they instead rely on money given to them by the state. The taxpayers fund these payments, so those who do not have children of their own and work for a living feel callously towards those who reproduce without the means to support their family. 

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