I’d like to start with a quick hello and to briefly mention that I’ve been rather busy with a new charity recently. It’s called Hope and Homes and it’s particularly close to my heart. I mention this merely to explain the dearth of reading matter in recent months for anyone who might enjoy this blog. … Continued
Forgive the vaguely amusing title, but perhaps it is necessary to counter the level of enmity and ire this issue seems to attract. It seems at a glance to be such a personal, small, mind your own business kind of thing and yet if there is one thing that is virtually guaranteed to divide any … Continued
I seldom find panel shows to be sources of wisdom, but one the other night was clearly an exception that proved the rule. It posed the following question to its participants: ‘If there was one piece of advice you could give your younger self what would it be?’ There were various answers to it, but … Continued
Medical experts in Australia have concluded, following the result of a royal commission into domestic violence in the state of Victoria (the first of its kind in the country), that children are affected by it even before birth. Statistics show that the number of cases of domestic violence in the country has increased by 136 … Continued
I wrote recently about the draconian abortion laws in Northern Ireland. With the recent announcement by the Chinese government that it is about to abandon its one child policy in favour of a two child policy, I’d like to discuss the other side of that coin…what happens when planned parenthood is directed, engineered and enforced … Continued
In 2013 a 17.5 million pounds initiative was announced by the government which aimed to support 16,000 young mothers by 2015. The move was inspired by similar programmes in the USA which claimed to reduce the incidents of domestic violence and child abuse in these households. It’s an interesting experiment, but it also highlights a … Continued
It seems women are leaving it ever later to have kids. The reasons for this are complex and varied. Based on personal observation I would hazard that the ever increasing childhood/career period for some men coupled with a desire on our parts to wait for the ‘right’ circumstances might have something to do with this. … Continued
I came across an old Facebook post on my timeline the other day, one of those viral thingamajigs. It was basically an image of an anonymous letter received by an Australian first time mother, Jade Ruthven (presumably written by ‘friends’ within her face book community), attacking her for her constant baby posts. I include it … Continued