Note from the Publisher: Welcome Katharine Patricia Chung Wilkins!

Jen Chung would be putting up this post, but she's been away from her keyboard today having a baby! Katharine Patricia Chung Wilkins was born at 2:38 pm on January 3, 2010— stats so far: 7 pounds, 1.2 ounces. Surprisingly, the baby does not resemble the projection that the Gothamist graphics staff created earlier this month. Jen writes: "Fun facts: Exactly two weeks early; had umbilical cord wrapped around her body twice; Chung is her second middle name; seems to endure my off-key singing."

In related news, Jake will be taking over as Executive Editor of Gothamist for the next few months while Jen takes some much-deserved maternity leave.

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Jake Dobkin in Miscellaneous on January 3, 2010 8:13 PM

Comments [rss]

LaLuneEstMorte

Congratulations Jen!!

Antonio

Congratulations!

wow 14th street

Great news!

I would say to enjoy your maternity leave( away

from work),however there is never any maternity leave.

Our kids are always on our mind.

What a decade to be born in an almost guarantee of

living 100+ years.

potsmoker

squeezing an orange through my peehole.

that sounds more appealing that letting some woman and kid own me and my money for the next 20 years.

Tricksta

LOL then I'll be the first to congratulate you when you do.

Tricksta

Oh, and Gong Xi! :)

Tricksta

...May she live to bless the world with her love and talent! Mine just turned one a few weeks ago!

It's really hard in the beginning, but as time goes on, it gets to be a lot of fun! Try to get some sleep!

potsmoker

from my favorite site, the voluntary huma extinction movement.

1. Personal pressure. Cultural conditioning to procreate begins early and continues insidiously into adulthood. It’s so strong that most of us have never considered not breeding. It’s so pervasive that we don’t realize we’ve been indoctrinated by society to act against our own best interests. An instilled desire to create children feels natural, almost biological. A choice isn’t much good if you don’t know you have it.

2. Positive social pressure. There’s only one socially acceptable response to news of pregnancy or birth: “Congratulations.” Despite a lack of social benefit, society gushes mindlessly about joys of adding more people.

3. Positive economic pressure. Economic incentives to breed come from those who control enough money to provide them. Corporate-controlled governments all over the world are paying baby bounties with the hope of future economic benefit. People higher up in the pyramid scheme know they need a large base to support their privileged position.

4. Negative social pressure. Childfree couples endure society’s disapproval for shirking their duty to provide fodder for factory and cannon. Accusations of decadence, immaturity, and selfishness pressure couples to conform and procreate.

5. Negative economic pressure. Those who choose to eschew breeding aren’t directly fined, but they subsidize others’ choice to breed. It takes a village to raise a child—pay up or else.

6. Pure pressure. Mandatory breeding rarely reaches the horrific level of Romania’s under Ceausesu, but wherever contraceptive services and reproductive freedoms are restricted, pure pressure to breed is automatically exerted. Hundreds of millions of couples are denied their basic human right to stop creating more children than they want or can care for.

The most important decision a couple will face is whether or not to bring another of us into the world. Pressure to make either choice disrespects autonomy. Any level of pressure to take on the life-altering, all-consuming task of child-rearing is unconscionable. Reproductive freedom and responsibility are based on respecting personal choices of those considering co-creating a new human being.

Tricksta

There’s only one socially acceptable response to news of pregnancy or birth: “Congratulations.”

Try pushing something the size of an orange through your pee-hole and tell me what the appropriate response should be.