The Advances Of Science Meet The Entitlement Generation…

Hadley Freeman on a woman who is, in her own words, ‘increasingly typical of her generation’:

When researchers from the Guttmacher Institute asked the women who accidentally became pregnant why they eschewed contraception, answers ranged from the self-deluding ("a perceived invulnerability to pregnancy") to the predictable ("lack of thought or preparation", dislike of contraceptive methods) to the absolutely infuriating ("male partner's objections and fear that pregnancy prevention is an indication of infidelity").

Ah, ladies! Have all those Sixties dreams about relief from unwanted pregnancy come to this?

Another factor I have noticed is that some young women resent having to shoulder the responsibility for contraception. Why, these women ask, and not unreasonably, are they the ones who have to take a hormonal pill every day, or have something stuck up inside them? Let the guy deal with it from now on!

Well, I hate to point to an obvious reason but…the chaps don’t get pregnant. You do.

While researching this story, I emailed Mary and asked after Holly, her younger sister and fellow Period Tracker devotee. Her baby's due this spring.

I’d laugh. If only I could stop weeping…