Jennifer Aniston recently was attacked by Bill O’Reilly for saying that she thought women don’t need men to have a baby anymore.  The comment that Aniston had made in a press conference was this:   

“Women are realizing it more and more knowing that they don’t have to settle with a man just to have that child. Times have changed and that is also what is amazing is that we do have so many options these days, as opposed to our parents’ days when you can’t have children because you have waited too long.”

After hearing the comment, O’Reilly replied with the following:

 ”She’s throwing a message out to 12-year-olds and 13-year-olds that, ‘Hey you don’t need a guy. You don’t need a dad,’” he ranted on his FOX News show this week. “That is destructive to our society.”

I think that O’Reilly took Aniston’s comment in a completely different direction than she intended.  To me Aniston is saying that due to options available today, women don’t have to “settle” on a man in order to have a child, meaning she doesn’t have to wind up with someone she doesn’t love or want to spend the rest of her life with in order to be a mom.  And, I think she’s right.  There are numerous women out there who want to be moms and would make great moms, but can’t seem to find “Mr. Right”.  I don’t think that Aniston was insinuating that young women should go out and get pregnant without a thought.   

Here’s what I’ve got to say….

1. It isn’t the number of people that make good parents:I could give you several specific names and situations of married folks that are married and aren’t doing (IMHO) a good job of parenting.  They aren’t necessarily loving and nurturing homes.  However, there are several single parent homes (due to death, divorce, or an absent donator) that are some of the best environments for children.  Ideally, should kids be raised by a mom and a dad?  I think so, but just because they aren’t doesn’t mean they are doomed.  If we go with the reasoning that all children should be raised by a man AND a women then we’re going to have to start taking children away from people in the above situation.  UHHHH!!! Excuse me?  That could quite possibly be the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard. 
2. Adoption – there are so many children in the United States and across the world that need to be adopted.  If we can get one more child out of an orphanage or a bad situation and into a loving home, why not? 
3. What makes a home a home and a mom a mom? A “home” is not created by a man and a woman and a “mom” or “dad” is not made by a member of the opposite sex.  You can easily have all of the above and still not have an ideal situation for a child, so why must we put those restrictions on people who want to be parents?

I could continue on and on, but I won’t.  Bottom line, to me, is that as long as the child is in a home that is loving and nurturing, it doesn’t matter if it is by a single woman, a single man, a man and a woman, or a family of baboons!