The fertility rate in the U.S. is down, but the cost of raising a child may be to blame. If not for immigrant families, births would be down sharply.

There have been times when I have only held onto my Catholic faith by the smallest of fingernails. I am a doubter. I am a protester.

Of all the things I looked forward to while pregnant with my son, reading books to him was very close to the top of that list.

Venting is good. Venting is sometimes lifesaving. But it matters where you vent and why.

Could I really be happy if my primary focus for years to come was managing a house full of babies?

Every year, my sister and I take the anniversary of each of our parents’ deaths off and spend it together. We go to the cemetery and to Mass, and gather the memories and the mourning into our arms and hearts for one more year.