Our beloved Archivist, the one and only Marie writes:

I’m catching up on lackadaisical reading; my apologies.

Re: April 18th, “The Science of Contraception”, I think you nailed the 4 associations on the continuum quite fairly. As a Millenial Catholic, and one who has several friends who are either practicing Millenials or Gen-X’ers… I think many would be surprised to know that a fair number of us are in “group 1” [Faithful to the teachings. ed.], or group 2 with group-1 leanings [Pro-life who would only use non-abortive methods of contraception. ed.].

On the other spectrum, there are the many Catholics facing infertility issues. That is its own continuum which echoes the first, but it’s interesting to me (in a historical context) how many of the younger women today are facing difficulty with fertility – and had parents, or possibly grandparents – who spun their heads, or passively taught, that the Church was just so old fashioned.

Based on my own interactions with other Catholic women… there has been much misleading information for the past few decades. We aim to bring more truth into the conversation. Yay internet.

(Not really a response to your piece, per se, just some observations).
How are things with Clan J?

Dear Archivist,

You are spot on. Those with religiously conservative mores on this issue exist in greater numbers than people think. We’re just afraid to say something in public for fear of being shouted down as a science hating patriarchal misogynist.

You bring up a point regarding women with fertility issues. The big issue for Dr. J. is in vitro. In principle, it isn’t a big deal to him. While you don’t have the power and mystery of the conjugal act, you create a life. The problem is that practice does not align with principle. For example, a large number of eggs are harvested, fertilized, and those not implanted are left on ice indefinitely. What is one to do with those embryos? Put them up for adoption? Sell them to industry as raw material? Dr. J. would be happier with a ‘two fertilization at a time’ approach, implanting all embryos generated.

Clan J. is doing well. The Lil Resident starts summer vacation tomorrow. She had a fantastic year at the Bene Gesserit Chapterhouse. Indeed she was honored with an award voted on by her peers as the young lady in her class that most represents the Bene Gesserit ideal.

The Lil Medstudent had a good first grade year. He got high marks, and his behavior in the second semester was less Loki-like than in the first. Schools these days expect the boys to act like girls. He’s been off since Tuesday and has been spending his days sharing a babysitter with one of his fellow younglings. They had a Nerf Gun duel, went to a science museum where they get to touch things, went to a trampoline facility, and otherwise horsed around outside. The New Atlantis Country Club pool opens Saturday, which brings about the true opening of summer.

Lady J. and Loki J. are doing great as well. Lady J.’s kill list is growing. she killed two birds, a chipmunk, a mole and three baby rabbits so far this spring. Loki J. has even logged a baby rabbit a bird and a few butterflies.

Thanks for writing in!

Dr. J.