Show 31: Excerpt - Single Mothers By Choice

THE DESIRE TO have a child and become a mother can be deeply felt by any woman - whether she is partnered, married, in her late twenties or early forties. But what happens when a woman has the mothering desire but doesn't have the partner?

Well, some women will become Single Mothers By Choice rather than pass up the opportunity to have a baby while they still can. Turns out a large faction of Americans take issue with this decision... A Pew Research Center study from earlier this year asked Americans which type of so-called "alternative" child-rearing environment was the "most harmful" for children to grow up in. Nearly 7 out of 10 said that they thought single women raising children without a male partner was more harmful than other "alternative" family structures like gay parents, divorced parents or unmarried parents living together raising children.

We at Kids These Days! wanted to understand where this fear of single motherhood might come from, so we went to the leading national expert on the topic. Jane Mattes is the founder of Single Mothers by Choice, and the author of the book of the same name.

KTD Producer Sarah Gonzales spoke with Jane Mattes in New York.