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Topic : 07/06 Baby Wars

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Created on : Thursday, April 13, 2006, 01:22:17 pm
Author : DrPhilBoard1
(Original Air Date: 04/21/06) Being a parent is hard enough, but what happens when Mom and Dad can't agree on how many kids to have, how to raise 'em and how to get ‘em to sleep?  Sometimes, it can lead to an all-out baby war! Matt's baby battle ended up in front of a judge and made headlines. He was ordered to pay child support for the baby he had with his ex-girlfriend, but he says he shouldn't have to cough up the money because she told him she wasn't able to get pregnant, and he told her he didn't want to be a father. He, his attorney, and the director of the National Center for Men discuss the lawsuit they filed, known as “Roe v. Wade for Men,” arguing that men should have a constitutional right to avoid fatherhood. Next, Dan says even though he and his wife, Lisa, already have four children, he wants just one more. Lisa has been pregnant on and off for 11 years and says she's closed for baby business. Will Dr. Phil help Dan see Lisa's point that four is enough? Then, a frustrated husband is camping out on the roof of his house and living in a tent. He refuses to go back to his bedroom until his wife moves their kids out of their bed and starts paying more attention to him. Can Dr. Phil get him to come down the ladder? Plus, a sleep expert has a simple method for getting your child to sleep through the night. See the plan in action! Share advice and talk about the show here.

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April 21, 2006, 8:45 am PDT

04/21 Baby Wars

Quote From: wandasue

Why should he be forced to take care of  a child that he was tricked into creating?  I know that I don't want children hence why I'm on the Pill but if for some reason that failed to protect me I can and would have an abortion regardless of my partners feelings.  I do not want to be a parent.  Seeing as he was very clear on the issue from the beginning he shouldn't have to contribute at all and shame on her for forcing him too.  She knew how he felt and still proceeded to have the child hence this child is her responsibility not his.  

Maybe he should seek to terminate parental rights. Maybe he should have kept his pants up. Maybe next time if he does not want children he will remember to keep his pants up. Condoms are not 100% effective no birth control is. The only way to prevent an unwanted pregnancy 100% is to keep your pants up.
 
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April 21, 2006, 8:45 am PDT

Why not?

 This isn't about what you folks went through. It's his situation. His point is why do women get to have the choice to abort, send for adoption, or have the kid? He didn't have any say in it and is being forced to pay. So ...he didn't wear a condom, ok he said he was also misled that she couldn't get pregnant. Personally, I think having sex and trying to avoid having kids is selfish but until God or some higher power strikes us down for that (I'm not religious really ;) to each their own.

The point is, he has no choice in the matter, she gets it her way as all pregnant women do. It's not whether he has to carry it for 9 months or what not. I also think Dr. Phil ignored the legal issues and just wanted to focus on the fact on whether he wore a condom or not.
 
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April 21, 2006, 8:45 am PDT

Matt is the loser

          I was in a similar situation with my youngest daughter's father, but I was the one up front and forward about not using birth controls pills and her father told me that he couldn't have children. Needless to say I found out I was pregnant. He wasn't there through the pregnancy and the first 6 months of her life. That was his choice I wasn't going to force him to be something he didn't want to be, but he was going to be financially responsible so that the next time before he got into a another situation like that he would act alittle more responsible for his actions. It took both of  us to concieve her and both of use would at least be financially responsible. Since the dna test has come back and prove to him that he was the father, he has stepped up and been an a good and willing to learn dad, even though he never wanted a child.  

         This man is an idoit and doesn't realize what a beautiful daughter he has. If he doesn't want to be there emotionally that is the only choice that he should have. The amount of child support he has been ordered to pay is a fraction of what it is going to cost to to raise the child. He should be glad he is getting off cheap and quit wasting her time in court that she could be spending raising there child to be a productive law abiding person & to pick better people to have in her life than this sperm doning jerk. 

 
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April 21, 2006, 8:45 am PDT

04/21 Baby Wars

Quote From: echolake

I fully agree with the young man.  Any woman can have casual sex ... protected or not,  and know   

that if she conceives she has choices.  A man does not.  If he father's a child and the mother   

chooses to abort it .... he has no say in the matter, essentially no rights........... so,  why should   

he automatically have to accept responsiblily if she chooses to keep a child he would prefer to not   

be born.   

If the man is in a commited relationship or marriage that's a whole different ball game.  Once he   

commits to that woman then there is expressed responsibility for children conceived in that    

relationship.    

When the government legalized abortion it was all about women's choices ... we need  

legislature NOW to protect mens rights and choices as well..........  

   

 But why should HE get to decide? If you give men this kind of power, you will open up a can of worms. There will be forced abortions. It will only add to the "men rule women", cave man mentality.

You know, men rule nearly everything else in this damn world. On this issue, I think that if a man does not want to be a father, he should get a vasectomy, or stop sticking his penis where it can possibly cause a conception. Otherwise, pay up, bucko.

Yes, there are unscrupulous women who "oops" a guy. I find that to be despicable. But, I also was told I would not be able to conceive. 15 yrs later, I have 3 boys. (I am married and they were/are wanted by both of us)


 

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April 21, 2006, 8:46 am PDT

Baby Wars

 I feel Matt has a right to fight this matter in court, by the sounds of it he was lied to by this girl, I think she trapped him.  Yes he could have used a condom, but he trusted her on her word.  He should not be punished because of her irresponsible behavior and lies.  Yes there is a child involved but if he is opposed to being in her life I think she would be better off if he wasn't.
 

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April 21, 2006, 8:46 am PDT

baby wars

Quote From: stresmenot

If you are going to engage in sexual activity you have to be aware of the consequences, and if you are so sure you don't want children there is a safe and effective procedure that only requires 15 minutes of a man's time in the doctors office to ensure that he doesn't become a father. All too often men put 100% of the responsibility of birth control on a woman, how is that fair, when they are usually the aggressors initiating sex, and will do or say anything to get it. Women have had to step up to the plate since the beginning of time for their children, when are men going to do the same?

Most of the time the women take the birth control because (In cases where the man and the woman have the relationship) the birth control is alot more effective than the condom.  I had to do that for years and understood why.   

The story is that he didn't want to be a father and she said she couldn't have children AND said she was on birth control.  It's hard to say,  either she was telling the truth (Since there is the extremely  small chance) or (Since it's so effective)  there wasn't truth to it and he trusted what she said.  Men want trust as much as a gal does (From what I hear from my guy buddies).  Yes, there are guys at fault, but there are women who just want  the kids and trick the guys. 

  

But what most are trying to say is: that a woman can determine if she wants to be a mother legally or not after a pregnany and a guy can't otherwise he'd be in jail.  If a guy should be 100% responsible, so should the woman.   

 
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April 21, 2006, 8:46 am PDT

BABY WARS

Quote From: echolake

I fully agree with the young man.  Any woman can have casual sex ... protected or not,  and know   

that if she conceives she has choices.  A man does not.  If he father's a child and the mother   

chooses to abort it .... he has no say in the matter, essentially no rights........... so,  why should   

he automatically have to accept responsiblily if she chooses to keep a child he would prefer to not   

be born.   

If the man is in a commited relationship or marriage that's a whole different ball game.  Once he   

commits to that woman then there is expressed responsibility for children conceived in that    

relationship.    

When the government legalized abortion it was all about women's choices ... we need  

legislature NOW to protect mens rights and choices as well..........  

   

 Then if you fully agree I am assuming that you would also agree that because a man has "LIMITED" choices the most important TWO they have are  1. Abstinance and/or 2. A Vasectomy!!! 

  

These are a man's rights but when you have "casual consenting" sex with a female committed or not you are well aware that if you have not taken the top two procautions then YOU  are essentially acknowledging the fact that as an adult you are taking a chance on the possibility that you can produce a child with that woman. 

  

Stop justifying a lack of maturity and responsibility on the man's part and start lobbying your insurance providers to cover vacetomies for men since that's the only form of birth control for now (which by the way doesn't even carry a 100% gaurantee that GOD won't allow the man to reproduce the production of sperm)  

  

Grow up men and get real.  Stop blaming the woman and stop using abortion as an eraser for the solution to the consequences of your promiscuity and lack of responsibility that results in pregnancy. 

 
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April 21, 2006, 8:50 am PDT

04/21 Baby Wars

Quote From: shunt02

This is one of Matt's statements: 

  

"Forcing me to be a father financially, mentally, and physically is definitely not something that I feel is fair," Matt says. 

  

 Was he raped?  He says that he was forced!!  So Lauren made him have sex with her? LOL  This kid got caught and is throwing a temper tantrum.  Poor Matt.  

  

 I agree.

I hope that if he ever wants to be a father, he will not be able to reproduce again. What is to stop him from whining that his wife (if someone would actually marry this slug), tricked him, once the children are here? Children, that at the time, he actually DID want.


 
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April 21, 2006, 8:51 am PDT

MEN DO NONE OF THESE THINGS????

Quote From: alleyg

Sex is fun, and sex makes babies. If you are really opposed to having children, then you should not be having sex.   

   

Yes, women have alot of power. We put out or not. We abort or not. I understand how that can seem terribly unfair. But here's the flip side. We carry the baby. We loose bone and blood for them We sit up at night while they cry. We take lesser jobs so we can spend time with them.   

   

Men do none of these things. I have been in a situation where I was on the pill and got pregnant anyhow. I chose to keep my son, how could i not, the creator himself chose me to raise him. I was young and poor and had to take state health insurance (medicaid).   

   

To get the medicaide,  I had to tell who the father was, even though he didn't want anything to do with us. I know for a fact that he has a support order against him that he isn't paying.   

   

BUT THAT ISN"T THE POINT  

   

The point is what is best for the baby. I have a child, that fact alters my life permanetly, If the guy has to pay a little child support, then so be it. But if he was so opposed to being a father, he should have gotten himself fixed. Its a quick and easy operation done in an out patient setting.  

I do not know what kind of “men” you are sleeping with, but by the sound of it, it’s the wrong kind. 

I am a single father, from the time I became one I was the one who worked, got up at night, and did the care taking. My life has been but on hold for the past 19 years. The mother left town and has taken no responsibility. I know I am not the only one that has gone through this. 

I have been living pay check to pay check, tried dating years ago, and have had no life just so me kid can have one. There are several “so called mother” out there that made a decision and the father had none. 

The laws need to be changed so the “soon to be father” should have equal right when it comes the having or raising a kid. 

So for you to say the guy should not have the right to say what happens just because he does not carry the kid for 9 months, is completely insane and selfish.

  

 

I feel that since the soon to be mother had the same fun time with the sex and does not want to deal with a kid but the soon to be father does, then the mother should have to spend (pay back) 9 months of her life for that one fun night. 

I can go on and on about this but will stop here SINCE I HAVE TO WORK. SOMEONE HAS TO BRING HOME THE MONEY, SUPPORT THE KID, AND TAKE CARE OF THE HOME………………………..

  

 

 
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April 21, 2006, 8:52 am PDT

Baby Wars

Quote From: shunt02

This is one of Matt's statements: 

  

"Forcing me to be a father financially, mentally, and physically is definitely not something that I feel is fair," Matt says. 

  

 Was he raped?  He says that he was forced!!  So Lauren made him have sex with her? LOL  This kid got caught and is throwing a temper tantrum.  Poor Matt.  

  

  I am soooo glad to see someone has a brain with some sense in it!! He is having a temper tantrum and he's also helping millions of women by being on this show because Dr. Phil tells him just what any judge should tell ALL men... YOU SHOULD'N'T HAVE HAD UNPROTECTED SEX!!!!!!!!   

  

I love Dr. Phil's response to him because men love to play the blame game and they really need to grow up or go get a blow up doll. 

 
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