The Future of Family: Things Have Already Changed and Will Change More

Dear Rose People, This week I want to invite you into the inquiry of what family might look like in the future and how it's already changed. According to recent statistics, 40% of babies are now born to unmarried women (many are in relationships, but that number isn’t quantified). Only half of the United States is in a nuclear family configuration now. Whether you call it the Post-Nuclear Family Age, the Open Source family, or something else, it’s clear that things have changed and are continuing to change. Women are having children much later in the West, having fewer children when they do. Fertility in men and women is at an all-time low. We are fighting the biological clock, too; women want to stay in the workforce (and businesses want to keep us there), but ovarian tissue ages so much faster than other tissue that it’s a risk for women who do want to be biomoms. And in the meantime, IVF, surrogacy, collaborative reproduction, and even parthogenesis have big implications for our laws, family system skills, personal options, and daughters and sons. We were lucky to speak with author Rachel Lehmann-Haupt as she was working on her new book, Reconceptions, which was just released last week. It’s a fascinating look at the future of family-making. Jane Metcalfe, the Founder of Proto. Life writes, “Rachel Lehmann-Haupt, whose new book, Reconceptions: Modern Relationships, Reproductive Science, and the Unfolding Future of Family, is an eye-opening look at just how far we have evolved in the 21st century beyond the notion of the nuclear family. Women’s economic empowerment, extraordinary advances in reproductive technology, and rapid social change are giving us an astonishing variety of new family configurations. I suspect these new types of families will increase our emotional resilience as the neobiological revolution unfolds. ”Order a copy of Reconceptions and learn about other resources from her podcast interview and page.  Plus, we'd love to invite you to tell us about your unusual family configuration, what makes it work, and what makes it challenging by sending a message to Info@Rosewoman.com.   All Love, Christine, The Rose WomanFounder, Rosebud Woman

A mind-blowing conversation on reproductive tech, how it’s already changed us, and what’s on the horizon with Rachel Lehman Haupt. A rise in the age of motherhood, an explosion in single-parent families, and sci-fi-level realities in repro tech are changing our options. Technologies like egg freezing, in vitro fertilization, the use of donor eggs, 3-parent embryos, external wombs...and even the option to become a “DIY mom.” In this episode, we cover the following: Changes in parenting in today’s society, especially in motherhood Inclusions and refinements are needed in current government policies and childcare systems Rachel’s story and her “Modern Family” Rachel’s on her forthcoming book, “Reconceptions: A Story of Love, Science and the Future of Family” Current Reproductive Technologies - The collaboration with Science and drawing the line for human reproduction uture of incubators, artificial wombs, and data on today’s childbirth Multiple roles as a parent in our children’s lives Some terminologies to learn:          -Artificial insemination            -Intrauterine insemination (IUI)           -In vitro fertilization (IVF)           -In vitro gametogenesis (IVG)           -Parthogenesis           -Dosies           -and MORE! LISTEN NOW