From: Bernuetz, Oliver: WPG (bernuetz.oliver@ic.gc.ca)
Date: Tue 17 Sep 1996 - 17:06:13 EEST
Ian Gorlick suggested in Digest #200:
>However, for many households living on the edge of poverty an extra child
may be ruinous, so the >alternative would be infanticide. I lay odds that
they choose abortion over infanticide. Rhythm method >and condoms are
probably also used to reduce the odds of having to resort to abortion.
Another historically common alternative (especially in the eras prior to the
20th century) to both abortion and infanticide was fostering. My wife's
grandfather was put into a famous English foster home just because his
family couldn't afford to support him. Giving "unwanted" babies to
relatives or rich acquaintances could be quite common in Orlanthi society,
there's bound to be couples who can't have children or who are too old to
have children yet their heirs have died in accidents or wars. There's
probably a fair sized "market" for unwanted babies and thus little need
(under normal levels of prosperity) to resort to either abortion or
infanticide.
>A propos of rhythm method: would you suspect that female cultists linked to
the fertility rune would have >some extra insight into when they are
fertile? Kind of like Orlanthi having a feeling about what the >weather will
do? That could make the rhythm method much more effective.
I like this suggestion, it has a nice feel to it...
Oliver D. Bernuetz
bernuetz.oliver@ic.gc.ca
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