Salute to Margaret Sanger

Ah yes, the Birth Control Pill.  We are hearing much about it these days because the Pill has a birthday this month.  It is 50 years old, which means I'm old enough, and my mother was old enough, to enjoy its benefits.  (How well it worked for my mother is another story altogether.)

Still, I'd like to raise my glass and toast Margaret Sanger and the other visionaries who contributed to this most useful invention. 

Without the Pill, I wonder whether I'd have an advanced college degree or an interesting career.  (Yes, feminism was already on the rise and I am certainly not implying that the Pill alone made these things possible for me as a woman.  Still, the ability of women to take charge of family planning no doubt contributed.)

I also wonder just how many kids I'd have by now, and how old they would be.  I didn't marry until my late 20's, and I didn't have my first child until I was 30.  That's not unusual for college-educated women these days, though it's still a bit older than the national average.  And gads, who would those children be with?!  I was not necessarily promiscuous, but I certainly wasn't making the best choices in the man department at 20.  If puppy love (and all that it entails) had automatically resulted in children, my life would be different indeed.

Without a doubt I'm a better mother for having been able to wait on starting my family.  This isn't a knock on women who have children young.  I know several who had kids early and they are not only great mothers, but they also have put together great educations and careers.  For me personally, maturity and selflessness (two key ingredients for good parenting) blossomed a bit late.  Could I have sucked it up and tossed aside my independence, self-centeredness and general desire for fun if I'd needed to?  Probably.  But I love the fact that I got to be a single gal and all that entails for as long as I did.  Now that my life revolves around preschool, diapers and playdates, I can look back wistfully, but without regret.

Now if they would only invent a magic pill for some of life's other challenges.