| Abstract: | Today, more than ever, women can control their own fertility and dissociate it from long-term intimacy. Among the types of nonmarital fertility, one of the least studied and often most controversial is the phenomenon of childbearing out of wedlock among mature women who are threatened by their own biological clock. It is estimated that there are about 3,000 mature unwed mothers in Israel. No psychological study of this population has so far been undertaken. This article attempts to delineate the demographic characteristics, the reasons for pregnancy, and the moral dilemma of 50 unwed mothers who deliberately decide to give birth as single mothers when they are over the age of 30.Ruth Linn is a senior lecturer in Education, School of Education, Haifa University, Israel 31999. Her research interests include conscientious objection, moral judgment of men and women, socio-moral conflicts in the family, and early childhood education. She received her Ed.D. from the School of Education at Boston University. |
