By Jessica • 16 years ago

Want it: Knock Yourself Up

kyu.jpg
I’m dying to get my hands on this book. Knock Yourself Up: A Tell-All Guide to Becoming a Single Mom, is a single-mom by choice guide that I keep hearing great things about it.
Author Louise Sloan tells her own story of getting pregnant via artificial insemination when she was 41 years old, as well as the stories of other single gals. As someone who was never really sure about getting married, but absolutely sure about having kids, this book definitely appeals to me. (Though I figure I have another few years before I start worrying about it, despite all the Sylvia Ann Hewlett-style scare tactics.)
Salon has an interesting interview with Sloan, but even more intriguing is the vitriol she’s getting in the letters section.

the boy will be screwed up or resent women, not having had a father around. he will have a higher chance of being a criminal. he will likely understand that all the feminist piffle shoved in his head is the opposite of what men need to know to be EFFECTIVE and happy free agents in the bigger world.
Your child will grow up fatherless and disadvantaged. But you got what you want, and that is what is most important. How sad.

And those are just from the first page; there’s a ton of letters calling Sloan selfish and saying that her son will grow up to be dysfunctional. There’s just something about a single mom by choice that really pisses people off. So…predictable.
Read more about the book and Louise’s story here.

Read more about Jessica

Join the Conversation

Related Content