AP Photo (Celine Dion thrilled about motherhood)

Mothers have been front and center in the news these past few weeks.  We have seen elated mothers-to-be, unwed mothers, and mothers whose husbands essentially cheated on them.  Then there have been the TV  mothers.  While we bristle at some, point our fingers at others -- all share one common trait -- motherhood.

The newest happy motherhood news is from Celine Dion. Céline's Motherhood Dream Comes True And the most vexing news is this: Octomom: robbing motherhood of its moral authority.  Nadya Suleman perplexes us and we all worry about whether she is a devoted mother or simply a stage mother.

Technically a mother is a female parent.  But this maternal bond is vitally important.  When family medical leave (called maternity leave some twenty years ago) first became a social policy issue we learned two things:  Mothers and babies need time to bond during the first six weeks of birth.  And early bonding is a predictor of school success. This came about from the work of Professor Edward Zigler of the Yale Bush Center in Child Development and Social Policy. 

The motherhood instinct is so strong that we see it in animal populations.  You have heard the expression, " When it comes to defending her children, she is a lioness."  Research initially presented in Scientific American tells us that female lions are protective of their young and "are highly cooperative when it comes to rearing young. The females give birth in secrecy and keep their litters hidden in a dry riverbed or rocky outcrop for at least a month, during which time the cubs are immobile and most vulnerable to predators. Once the cubs can move, though, the mothers bring them out into the open to join the rest of the pride. If any of the other females have cubs, they form a crèche and remain in near-constant association for the next year and a half before breeding again." Lion Research.org/

Motherhood is more than a definition;  it is a state that means a woman has brought a child into the world who needs loving, caring, and nurturing. As we saw with

Never before in history has motherhood seen so many variations on a theme. We have biological mothers, surrogate mothers, in vitro mothers, and adoptive mothers -- mothers by choice and mothers by chance.  Nonetheless often with motherhood comes a new way of life. Perhaps this news US Women Delaying Motherhood, Report Shows  is a good sign.  Maybe it really means that we have a generation of women who really understand that motherhood is a full time job even if we have other jobs outside of the home.

More articles about mothers and children:

• Neverland: the Jackson children of divorce and surrogacy
• Scandal's snare: the children of Jenny Sanford and Maria Belen Chapur
• Heartbroken: Elizabeth Edwards, John, and the other woman  
• Irresponsible Sex: Lauren London, Lil Wayne list toppers

Another piece worth reading:  Elizabeth Edwards stayed with cheating husband for children's sake

Here are other stories about Octomom:

• from Tinamarie Bernard, Modern Love Examiner: Jon and Kate, the Octomom, and the ugly truth of reality TV  
• from Kristen Houghton, Relationships Examiner: Octo-mom, SJP surrogate mom, Kate 8, Debbie Rowe - public property ...

Copyright 2009 Rita Watson