The Parenthood Decision: Discovering Whether You Are Ready and Willing to Become a Parent - Softcover

Engel M.F.C.C., Beverly

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0385489803 ISBN 13: 9780385489805

Publisher: Crown, 1998

Synopsis

We are living in a time when baby showers are the most popular kind of party and when TV and movies abound with adorable babies and darling toddlers selling everything from soap to toilet paper. In this "baby-friendly" environment, is it any wonder that more and more people are considering becoming parents?

Most people realize, however, that just wanting a baby doesn't mean you are physically, mentally, or emotionally prepared to have one. Nor does the desire to have a baby necessarily mean you will be a good parent.

The Parenthood Decision will help potential parents resolve their conflicts about this major decision. Here, Beverly Engel helps readers find their own answers to questions such as: "Am I ready to be a parent?" "What should I do if I am ready and my partner is not?" "Will I be a better parent than my parents?" "How will having a baby affect my relationship?" "What are the mistakes I am most likely to make and how can I avoid them?" "Should I have a baby on my own?" By presenting important information, posing thought-provoking questions and providing exercises, Engel helps both those who are unclear whether this is the right time for them to become parents and those who are undecided about whether parenthood is right for them.

Armed with the self-knowledge The Parenthood Decision provides, readers will finish the book confident in their potential-parenthood decision.

About this title

Review:

Deciding whether or not to become a parent (and if so, when and how) is one of life's biggest decisions. For some people, the choice to have a child is intuitive--something they've always known they would do. Nonetheless, questions arise for them. How can I know if the time is right? What are my real reasons for wanting a child? Are my motivations questionable? For others, the question is whether or not to have a child at all. What if I want to parent and my partner does not? Am I capable of being a good parent? Is my partner? What about money issues? In The Parenthood Decision: Discovering Whether You Are Ready and Willing to Become a Parent, Beverly Engel, a licensed marriage, family, and child counselor and bestselling author (The Right to Innocence and Beyond the Birds and the Bees), takes a look at all the issues potential parents face, posits important questions, and leads readers who are struggling with a variety of dilemmas through compassionate and thoughtful decision-making exercises. Engel realizes that her soul-searching process may lead to the conclusion to wait or remain childless, and she fully supports this option, stating, "You owe it to yourself, your partner if you have one, and especially to your future baby to make your decision based on reality, not fantasy." --Ericka Lutz

About the Author:

Beverly Engel, MFCC, is a nationally recognized psychotherapist and sex therapist with over 30 years of experience, as well as a bestselling author. She is the author of The Right to Innocence, The Emotionally Abused Woman, Partners in Recovery, Encouragements for the Emotionally Abused Woman, Families in Recovery, and Raising Your Sexual Self-Esteem. She has shared her expertise on The Oprah Winfrey Show, The Phil Donahue Show, The Sally Jessy Raphael Show, and Ricki Lake.

About this edition

• Publisher: Crown
• Publication date: 1998
• ISBN 10: 0385489803
• ISBN 13: 9780385489805
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 256