More Unmarried, Cohabiting Couples Having Babies Together: OK or Put a Ring On It?

Whatever!

Whatever.

i thought you christians hated polygamy

What does his statement have to do with polygamy?

He wanted his god in peoples marriages.

A threesome!

You are a disgusting little girl.

So, AGAIN, what does that have to do with polygamy???

Marriage? Don't need it. What's more important is the care the child receives, not the piece of paper his parents have. It's less messy, too-- you don't have to do the dance to define yourselves by how societies views a marriage should be, so you can just be... whatever works for you.

Marriage isn't necessary at all.

In your life ok, you don't decide what is necessary for others......THANK GOD!

But that's just me personally.

A couple needs to be married before having children. I know nowadays that doesn't necessarily mean a legal document that states so. At least be married in 'spirit' if that makes sense. Am I making sense? JUST HAVE THAT COMMITMENT GEEZ, I DON'T KNOW WHAT I'M SAYING ANYMORE.

Ok, I understand. You wish to get marriage, not only be together. It's just what it is - a personal decision, based on personal believes!

Exactly! :)

It makes sense. It basically means to be committed to the task together, even if there's no legal document binding the two of you together. Although I would say that they just need to be committed to raising the kid together, whether or not their relationship holds. Does that make sense? xD

Absolutely!! I can't tell you how many friends of mine I've seen get caught in between bitter parents. And they end up trying to do things to 'win' their kids affection which usually involves outbuying the other in presents or something. It's like, play nice for the kid's sake, ya know? They could care less about your dumb christmas presents. I feel like I'm rambling/making no sense again. xD

Haha, that makes tons of sense ;)

It does. Parents don't have to love each other in order to work together to raise kids. My parents, fortunately, divorced on friendly terms and still work together in raising me and my brother-- no fighting, no demanding we pick sides. They're still committed to being good parents even if they're no longer committed to each other.

But even if other marriages don't end in the anticlimatic way my parents' did, yes, they can at least play nice for the kids' sake.

I'm glad to hear that your parents, at least, didn't stop being parents despite going their own ways! They sound like awesome people. And that's how it should be...tis fortunate indeed. :)

I don't see what his is an issue some people do not want to get married. Some people do not want to get married until they have been with someone for a while. Wanting a child or getting pregnant should not make a couple get married. They should get married because they want to spend the rest of their lives together. Unlike some peoples viewpoints marriage is not about having children, marriage is about love. And you can love someone enough to want to have children with them, but that doesn't mean you love them enough to want to get married. My parents love each other enough to have me, but they didn't want to get married, the only reason they got married is because the way insurance coverage worked back then meant that even though my dad was my dad because him and my mom weren't married his insurance would not cover me, unless he legally adopted me, even though he was my dad (I don't understand it either) Him and my mom were divorced before I was 6 because he met that woman he loved enough to want to spend the rest of his life with. Yes my mom was heartbroken but I wouldn't change it. They both knew they didn't want marriage but they did it anyways, and I got 2 older sisters out of it.

Personally I thing that one doesn't need to be married to make a good life for their child. i was raised without a father and turned out fine. However, i do like the concept of being married. It just seems very romantic and beautiful.

Coupled with the knowledge of the odds of parents staying together these days, I don't think there is any point in feeling strongly about this question.

To each their own. Whatever works for their family is fine. It is not my place to judge.

while I think if you love each other enough to have a kid you should get married but its a sociological fact that the longer you live with your significant other the less likely you are to get married so its really not surprising that people living together unmarried are having kids.

Live your life best way you can and never adjust how you feel to make someone else happy.

Shacking up is one thing, but having kids is serious business. Get married for at least the kids well being

The idea of "together forever" kind of scares me. And divorces are very messy.

"Together forever" should scare you at 15! But later on in life, for many people, it becomes comforting as long as you've found the person to fully understand and support you in your decisions. :)

Agree with you .

Agree with you . Humans are not toys . You have to find your partner and live a lovefully life with him\her . You want to change your partner from a while to a while ? Hah .

Exactly.

Ideally I think a couple should be married but nowadays even that seems temporary so why would it matter?

Its really for the couple's to decide not us.

I'm not fond of the term 'shacking up' - it has such a furtive sound.

I'm also old fashioned enough to prefer marriage or some kind of legal acknowledgment of the bond between parents. But it's alright with me that people find their own way - after all, I haven't walked in any of their shoes.

I think it's fine, as long as the couple /want/ the baby and are willing to take care of it together, ina stable, healthy environment.
That aside, I personally think that it's better for the parents to be married.
I get that a lot of people think it's just a ring and paper, but it's a lot more.
Marriage could mean the difference between two parents and one.

Why buy the cow when the milk's free?

Why pay for milk you can't sample first to know if you like it or not..? ;)

Because all too often it's a "hit and run".

I agree, I was just joking. :)

Why test drive a car? What a crazy idea!!!

Are you test driving your car...aka as your partner, (you haven't had a fight with in five years)
People are not cars.

The conversation was about cows and milk so I thought that cars were just as relevant. In reality what I meant was that it is easy to jump right into a relationship that is based on infatuation rather than an ability to live together in peace and harmony. Once you start sharing a home together many people find out the person they are with is not the person they can spend the rest of their life with.