Rosemary Agonito, Ph.D., award winning author and gender issues specialist, has published eight books and many articles. Her first novel, Buffalo Calf Road Woman: The Story of a Warrior of the Little Bighorn, based on a true story, won the prestigious Western Heritage Award for Outstanding Western Novel (2006).

Agonito has been quoted in major publications like People, Parents, USA Today, Christian Science Monitor, Marie Claire, Glamour, Mademoiselle, New Woman, Men’s Health, Human Resources Executive, Across the Board and others. She has appeared on TV and radio around the U.S., including CNN, NBC, CNBC, PBS and others.

Agonito is a former college professor who directed a women’s studies program and has run a gender issues consulting firm.

Throughout history, women have been equated with a single biological function, motherhood, and made to feel they must have children to be "real women." Despite all women's advances, the pressure to have children still dogs women. The glorification...

Throughout history, women have been equated with a single biological function, motherhood, and made to feel they must have children to be "real women." Despite all women's advances, the pressure to have children still dogs women. The glorification of motherhood is everywhere in the media. The Last Taboo breaks ground in questioning the motherhood "requirement" and its glorification, while testifying to the harm motherhood regularly does to (1) women (their relationships, finances, careers, self-identity, physical energy), (2) unwanted children (half of all pregnancies are unplanned), and (3) the human species and environment (whose very existences are threatened by excessive reproduction.) For too long, women have been consigned to a life not suited to all, or even most women in the modern era, an era reeling under the environmental devastation of overpopulation. Women are not obliged to have children, despite great pressures. Motherhood is not a prerequisite for being a "real" woman.

Introduction 4 Chapter 1. Help! I'm Tired All the Time 8 �  � The Physical and Emotional Impact of Having Children 8 �  � Mommy in the Supermarket 8 �  � Mommy at Home 8

Introduction 4 Chapter 1. Help! I'm Tired All the Time 8 �  � The Physical and Emotional Impact of Having Children 8 �  � Mommy in the Supermarket 8 �  � Mommy at Home 8 �  � Mommy at Work 10 �  � Not What I Bargained For 11 �  � The Mother-Child Relationship Turned Upside-Down 14 �  � The Road to Hell Is Paved with Good Intentions 15 �  � Nuclear Fissures 17 �  � The New Mid-life Crisis 18 �  � Where's Daddy? 19 �  � Frustrated, Frazzled and Furious 21 Chapter 2. Honey, What's Happening To Us? 23 �  � The Impact of Children on a Personal Relationship 23 �  � Marla's Story 23 �  � Lisa's Story 24 �  � Ellen's Story 26 �  � Martha's Story 27 �  � Diana's Story 28 �  � Not-So-Wise Conventional Wisdom 29 �  � And Baby Makes Three 30 �  � Sleeping Together, Literally 30 �  � Number One 31 �  � Ships Passing in the Night 31 �  � Born Yesterday 32 �  � I'm Right; You're Wrong 33 �  � Stranger In Our Midst 34 �  � They're Gone! ' Marital Bliss and the Joy of Motherhood 35 Chapter 3. Mom's Talents Down The Drain 37 �  � The Impact of Children on Career and Livelihood 37 �  � That's Life 37 �  � A Mother of the Future ' Almost 38 �  � A Mother of the Past 39 �  � A Mother of the Present ' Out of the Workforce 40 �  � Another Mother of the Present ' Out of the Workforce 41 �  � A Mother of the Present ' In the Workforce Part-Time 42 �  � A Mother of the Present ' In the Workforce Full-Time 42 �  � A Mother of the Present ' In the Workforce Full-Time, Sort Of 42 �  � Hitting the Baby Ceiling 44 �  � The Loss that Keeps on Losing 45 �  � A Recipe for Disaster 46 �  � Motherhood as Escape Hatch 47 �  � The Choice that Isn't a Choice 48 �  � What's Wrong With This Picture? 48 �  � 'What's Wrong With Me? I Don't Have Kids.'� 49 �  � The Invisible Helping Hand 50 �  � The Ultimate Guilt Trip 51 �  � Who's Sorry Now? 52 Chapter 4. Hey, Who Am I? 53 �  � How Motherhood Limits and Defines Mom as a Person 53 �  � Helen's Story ' and a Question 53 �  � Crisis of Identity 54 �  � The No-Return Policy 56 �  � Who Am I? 56 �  � The Building Blocks of the Family 58 �  � A Metaphor for the Self-Sacrificial Mom 59 Chapter 5. The Money Pit 60 �  � The Financial Cost of Having Children 60 �  � Paying for Love Insurance 60 �  � Paying the Day-to-Day Costs 61 �  � Paying for Mr. Wrong 62 �  � Deep Pockets 64 �  � The Endless Money Siphon 64 �  � Paying for Their Bad Choices 65 �  � What Not Having It All Really Means 66 Chapter 6. Godzilla Mom 66 �  � When Motherhood Harms the Child 66 �  � The Police Blotter 66 �  � A City Story 67 �  � A Suburban Story 69 �  � A Small Town Story 70 �  � A Television Story 71�  �  � A Jet-Set Story 72 �  � A Homeless Story 73 �  � A Tabloid Story 74 �  � Dirty Little Secrets 75 �  � Going It Alone 76 �  � That's My Baby! 77 �  � Unplanned Parenthood 77 Chapter 7. Trashing Our World 78 �  � The Environmental and Human Impact of Having Children 78 �  � Ga Ga Over Babies 78 �  � Choosing Human Extinction 78 �  � It's Not Just Their Problem 80 �  � A Most Unpleasant Question 81 �  � Consider Adopting 83 �  � The 'Urge'� to Reproduce 83 �  � It's Life 84 Author's Note 85