Begetting New Life is a Journey of Courage and Generosity

Over the last couple of years, I have paid more attention to sociological traits of particular generations. As one born towards the end of the baby boom, that is, born between 1946-1964, I qualify as a “Boomer”. “Generation X” (born between 1965-1979) followed the Boomers and “Millennials”, born between 1980 and 1994, arrived after Gen X. Not to be left out, I give a shout out to the “Silent Generation” born between 1925 and 1945 and the generation born after 2013, which is not yet officially named. (Some have called them “Alphas”.)¹ Presently, “Generation Z” (or “iGen” or “Zoomers”), born between 1995 and 2012, is coming of age. Generation Z is the first generation that has never known a world without smart phones and the internet. To be sure, this kind of connectivity marks a Zoomer’s personality—for better or for worse. And, at the risk of over-generalizing, Zoomers have also grown up at a time of major cultural and economic upheaval. As a result, Zoomers tend to marry later in life than previous generations if they marry at all. Moreover, they struggle to afford to own a home. More than previous generations, Zoomers delay having children.² Above all, Zoomers are more anxious and struggle more to maintain good mental health than previous generations.³

What does all this have to do with our present edition of CANFP News? Let me try to connect the dots. Each of the main articles of this newsletter focuses on the generosity of couples who have welcomed children with special needs into their lives intertwined with the decision whether or not to undergo prenatal testing. Spoiler alert: our contributors conclude that prenatal testing may be helpful to prepare for the birth of the child, but it is not to be used as a tool to decide to eliminate or “to weed out” the child as one physician recommended to Dr. Theresa Farnan. In the end, the decision to marry, to beget new life and to bring new life into this, at times, frightening world is not for the faint of heart. Couples want certainty that everything is going to be alright. It is only natural to want to eliminate anxiety-inducing situations. Of course, the problem with the last sentence is that a child is not a situation. On the contrary, a child is a gift given by God to couples who open themselves to His generosity.

Does that mean that generous parents of special-needs children never have any anxious moments? Of course not. It does mean, however, that their journey with their child or children is filled with much self-discovery and joy, and, yes, sometimes hardship and suffering. As one blessed with relatives and friends who are parents of special-needs children, I have witnessed time and again the joy that the children bring to their parents and their siblings, and to me. Joy is fruit of the generosity and openness of parents and evidence of God’s blessings. Indeed, all of us have our work cut out for us as our brother and sister Zoomers come of age. God willing, sacrifice, courage and generosity—and the gift of Natural Family Planning—is something that us older folks can pass on to our beloved Zoomers.

¹Jean M. Twenge, Generations (New York: Atria Books, 2023) 2.
²Twenge, Generations, 375-378.
³Twenge, Generations, 392-430.