Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1495665
9 Unity SUNDAY 26 MARCH 2023 Prof. JosAnn Cutajar Department of Gender & Sexualities MALTA defines itself as a child loving country. Facts dispute this. Malta has one of the lowest fertility rates in the European Union. This is also a global issue as Gallagher's article Fertility rate: 'Jaw-dropping' global crash in children being born demonstrates. 1 By 2100, some countries such as Ja- pan and Spain will see their population halved. Women, this article under- lines, are not having as many babies as they did in the past. Sylvia Bonnici (2023) in her Master of Arts (MA) dis- sertation interviewed young Maltese women in a stable relationship who, together with their partner, have de- cided that they do not want to have children. 2 Frances- ca Fenech Conti (2023), in another MA dissertation, underlined that although Maltese women do resort to some sort of contraception this still leads to some un- planned pregnancies. 3 An- na Borg (2021) and others maintain that this dwindling in the rate of children born is due to various reasons – the fact that more women are investing in an educa- tion and employment. 4 As Borg however points out, the neo-liberal economy is enticing more people into paid labour, whether they want to or prefer to stay at home to take care of their children. The bulk of the income earned is spent on accruing a 'home'. Wheth- er you buy a small flat or a house, the majority have to take a bank loan, or else spend their life renting ac- commodation, which isn't feasible in the long run. So, young couples are postpon- ing starting a family, or not even going there. Couples and individuals who want biological chil- dren do have options if they have money. They can do it the traditional way. Some however use pre-implan- tation genetic diagnosis (PGD) testing to screen the embryos for sex, race, and/ or chronic illnesses or dis- ability. PGD is a laboratory procedure used in conjunc- tion with in vitro fertiliza- tion (IVF). This procedure is not legal in all countries. Estreich (2019) also men- tions human genome ed- iting which is used to pro- duce 'better babies'. In some countries, a number of medical tests and proce- dures are also undertaken during a pregnancy – ul- trasound scans, blood tests, amniocentesis, etc. 5 When one of these tests show that the foetus has a disa- bility, doctors – depending on the country – may put pressure on the parents to abort even when the mother wants to go ahead with the pregnancy. Down syndrome in Iceland and Sweden, for example, is disappearing. Disability scholars, activists, and supporters argue that life with disability is not in- herently tragic. Physical, de- velopmental, and emotional impairments can limit life activities, however a num- ber of the limitations faced by individuals with im- pairments are socially con- structed. The world is also witness- ing an increase in 'designer babies', a number of which are born via social surroga- cy. In some countries, there is no legal requirement that the babies born of this practice have to be genet- ically linked to one of the intending parents. Without this piece of national and international legislation, we might see an explosion in the gamete market to make designer babies and/or baby farming. Those who want such babies, will seek gam- etes – eggs and sperm – of young, highly intelligent and attractive women and men attending elite universities who have athletic and artis- tic talents. In the past, these gamete donors could remain anonymous. Donor-conceived people however are pushing gov- ernments to ensure that gamete donation does not remain anonymous since this has genetic implications in the case of inherited dis- eases; there are also public health concerns in the even- tuality of people conceived from the same gamete do- nor might procreate and/or marry each other. Other countries have de- cided which racial and eth- nic groups can have chil- dren. The United States has a long history of forcibly ster- ilising certain racial groups. Black women have been sterilised against their will in the past. People believe that to have or not to have children, and which children they get to be bear, is a personal deci- sion. Little attention is given to the interaction between bio-political dynamics and political rule and how these intersect with capitalism and its distinct systemic drives. Bio-politics, capitalism, and children The neo-liberal economy is enticing more people into paid labour, whether they want to or prefer to stay at home to take care of their children Dr Ingrid Grech Lanfranco Department of Child & Family Studies THE transition from couple to parents is one of the major milestones in the life of a couple. Despite preparation, an- ticipation, and planning, the changes that the ar- rival of a baby (or babies, sometimes) bring to a couple are beyond prepa- ration! Couples, whether living together or sep- arately, would usually have been accustomed to a particular lifestyle and routine, social life, work and leisure sched- ules. The transition to parenthood necessitates that what was previously customary and predicta- ble, becomes, at least for some time, uncertain and different. Adjusting to the new baby, even when this is not the first time, but more so when it is, re- quires a lot of energy. The tendency is for cou- ple to focus initially on learning how to care for their child, making sure to tend to their child's needs appropriately. As time goes by, with practice, what was initial- ly new and overwhelming becomes more doable, and the levels of stress in- volved with adjusting to the transition, can start to decline. As a clinician and re- searcher of couples and parenting, I find that one of the pitfalls that can accompany the transi- tion to parenting is that the couple, now parents, forget that they are still a couple. So much ener- gy has been put into be- coming good or sufficient parents to their child, that their relationship as a couple is sidelined. Of- ten, couples say they have 'no time' to think of any- thing else, they are 'too tired' because of the lack of sleep, or they may need to work extra to cope with increased finan- cial burden as the fami- ly grows. Some couples work back-to-back to en- sure that either one or the other is caring for their child at any one moment, and thus they hardly ever meet anymore. Unfortu- nately, whilst it does be- come realistically more challenging for couples to balance all their re- sponsibilities and time, leaving their relationship on the back-burner does not augur well for the fu- ture sustainability of the relationship and effec- tiveness as parents. Therefore, all efforts need to be made to sup- port couples to continue to invest in their rela- tionship. Finding creative ways to spend time to- gether, getting support from family and friends, making use of childcare services, or maybe even attending a parenting programme together that focuses on their relation- ship, are all possible ways to enhance and prioritise the relationship. The stronger the couple relationship, the better the parenting relation- ship, and ultimately the greater the positive im- pact on the child's well- being and development. Supporting couples as they transition to parenthood References 1. Gallagher, J. (2020). Fertility rate: 'Jaw-drop- ping' global crash in children being born. https://www. bbc.com/news/ health-53409521 2. Bonnici, S. (2023). The Perception of motherhood amongst women living in Malta. A comparative Dis- course Analysis. [Unpublished MA dissertation]. Uni- versity of Malta. 3. Fenech Conti, F. (2023). Family planning and con- traception practice of Maltese women. [Unpublished MA dissertation]. Uni- versity of Malta. 4. Borg, A., (2021). The evolution of women in the Maltese labour market between 1960 and 2020. In M. Debono & G. Baldacchino (Eds.), Work- ing life and the transformation of Malta 1960-2020 (pp. 49-67). Malta: Malta University Press. 5. Estreich, G. (2019). Fables and Futures. Biotech- nology, Disability, and the Stories We Tell Ourselves. MIT Press.