I had several points, guys. 
One point though: the woman didn't abandon her children. She just became the non-custodial parent. She still sees her kids and is involved.
Yes, that's how I read the article as well. I believe it stated that she has a better/more involved relationship with her children now.
Quite a few men are in this position. One of my points as Milo noted directly. This is so common for men, it doesn't even make news or even blip people's consciences. But this woman is dragged through the mud by the comment makers for doing the same. Double standard.
Not a blip unless the man isn't paying child support and sometimes not even then.
Yes, children are not a car or a house. But how do you 'try out' kids first, to know if you will or won't be a good parent? Babysitting? Not quite the same thing. And it took her five years to come to her decision. There is nothing that she could have done to determine whether she would or wouldn't be a good mother.
So while I'm sure plenty of people consider how children will effect their lives, they can't know the reality of it until they actually do do it, then of course, it's too late.
I have several friends who are mothers who now tell me - because I asked bluntly - that although they love their children and do not regret them, there's no way they would do it again. They are great parents. They just didn't realize how little time and energy would be left for themselves post-children. Of two women I'm thinking of specifically - one works outside the home and the other is a stay-at-home mom. I imagine some of those feelings are related to the extent of the involvement they feel our society dictates they must have to maintain their status as 'good moms'.
When I was growing up, my mother was involved as much as she could be, but I only had a couple of extra-curricular activities that required her presence weekly or for her to drive me...not six days out of seven, which seems to be the norm now.
And no one should subjugate their lives for ANYone else. Sure, kids should be a top priority, but they shouldn't be the be-all, end-all priority.
I agree. Definitely having children is an enormous responsibility that should not be entered into lightly. But at the same time, it should not become the whole of your existence for a couple of reasons. I'm mostly speaking from personal experience here - one data point doesn't make a trend - but by-and-large, children emulate their parents, no matter what their parents 'teach' them. It would have been nice to have parents who also put their own health and personal development on par with that of their children. Also, children are supposed to grow up and make lives of their own - healthy birds leave the nest. That's a damned hard thing to do for a young adult when they're looking at a parent - particularly a single parent - who essentially has no life outside of them.
And as for both parents needing to be involved for emotional development, extending even to the child abuser or addict, I'd like to see more studies done. There's no way my common sense buys that a child is better off maintaining a relationship with a parent who is unfit, especially while that child is still developing emotionally, and maybe not even afterward.
