First, This really does show how well abstinence-only sex education works. (I know, others have said it before me.)

Second, if it were my daughter, there's no way I'd let her get married at seventeen, pregnant or not! Okay, they're pro-life, but why oh why aren't they advocating for adoption. I guesss they'd rather doom their daughter to marriage and family before she's really old enough to do it properly.

My former husband and I also turned down a referral for a child with potential developmental difficulties. It was a very difficult choice for me, and I certainly asked our counselor if he had been successfully placed. (He had been.) Later, we received another referral for a little girl, and she is a joy and the delight of my life. Do I wonder if I should have accepted the first referral? Of course, but I wasn't convinced I could handle a child with the special needs the first baby had. Actually, I may have been better equipped than I knew, I have since worked with children with disabilities, and found myself loving it. It wouldn't be appropriate to speculate on my ex-husband's ability to handle such a placement. Suffice it to say that I am fairly sure the divorce would have occurred a few years earlier than it did! But I wouldn't now have the child I have, who I'm very sure is exactly the child God intended for us. I am sure that the child you chose not to take will find a family that can give her the love and care she needs, just as the little boy I was offered did, and she will have as good a life as she can. Don't beat yourself up over this. Adoptive parents are given a choice to reflect on what they believe they can and cannot handle, and it's in the best interest of everyone involved that they do so honestly.

I recently ended an eighteen year marriage, and went back to my maiden name. Two things: first, its difficult to change either way, especially at the SSA and the DMV, presumably when you marry as well as when you divorce. The DMV is especially rigid when something doesn't quite fit the way they want it to, I had problems both times because I chose to use my maiden name as my middle name during the marriage. The other thing is really funny, my five year old daughter announced that she wanted to take my maiden name too this morning! It'll be fun deciding when and if I want to mention that to the ex!