By Debra McCown
Reporter / Bristol Herald Courier
Published: May 12, 2009

At the risk of stating a cliché, it’s tough being a single mom. But the truth is we’re part of a growing crowd.

Believe it or not, out-of-wedlock births jumped to an all-time high in 2007. The National Center for Health Statistics reports that about 40 percent of the children born that year were the sons and daughters of single women.

Look back a few decades, to 1950, and just 4 percent of children were born out of wedlock, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

That’s quite a change. What’s more, in 2007 nearly 60 percent of the women in the 20 to 24 age group who had babies were unwed mothers. I was among them.

My daughter, born in April of that year, is now a two-year-old drama queen who’s almost too adorable for time-out. (Almost.)

Among mothers like me, now in our mid-20s, single moms are in the majority.

Which is not to say it’s right. Or good. A lot of people would tell you it’s downright scary. But it’s happening. Whatever your opinion, the consequences are real – not just for moms, but for society at large.

So this working, single mom of a toddler is joining the conversation on the Mommy blog. While I will continue to read with interest Sara’s posts about the antics and adjustments of a nuclear family, my hope is to supplement these stories with a few tales from a different front line, one dedicated to the rest of us.

Questions, comments or suggestions? I’d love to hear from you! E-mail me at .

Thank you, and happy reading!