Millions of babies have been born via in vitro fertilization (IVF), and researchers are just starting to document some of the lasting effects the process may have on early development.
Family & Parenting
Building Kids’ Vocabulary Doesn’t Have to Involve Words
The stronger a child’s vocabulary, the more successful she tends to be in school, and new research shows that the word-building can begin before kids start talking.
Breast-Fed Babies Achieve Higher Social Status
Studies suggest that breast-feeding can be good for a baby’s health, and now there’s fresh evidence that it may help children to climb the social ladder as well.
How to Talk to Your Kids About Their Eating Habits: Very Carefully
Weight is never an easy subject, but it can be especially dicey when parents broach the issue of eating habits and weight with their teens.
Why Stage Parents Push Their Kids
In the first study to experimentally investigate the phenomenon, researchers say it’s the unfulfilled ambitions of moms and dads that fuel their pushy parenting.
Men Who Can’t Make Sperm May Be at Higher Risk of Cancers
Researchers at Stanford University say infertility may put some men at higher risk of developing brain, prostate and testicular tumors as well as melanoma and lymphoma.
Mothers Who Smoke While Pregnant Put Kids at Risk of Substance Abuse
Exposure to cigarette smoke in the womb may interfere with the brain‘s reward system, and make children more vulnerable to addictions.
Do 15-Week Old Fetuses Masturbate?
Congressman Michael Burgess says yes, but the science isn’t as clear.
What to Drink While Expecting: Study Says Moderate Booze OK
Alcohol isn’t generally the first drink that moms-to-be reach for, but if they do, they may not be doing as much harm to their children as previously thought.
Bullying in the Family
Brothers and sisters fight, but when the bickering evolves into physical or emotional abuse, it’s bullying.
Letters of Love: Famous Dads Reflect on Fatherhood
To celebrate Father’s Day, TIME teamed up with Lean In, Sheryl Sandberg’s women’s empowerment foundation, to ask famous dads to write open letters to their daughters.
Viewpoint: What’s Missing from Sesame Street’s Parents in Prison Toolkit
Nearly 2 million American children— one quarter of them too young to go to kindergarten— now have a parent in prison or jail. To help the littlest ones cope, Sesame Street has just released a toolkit for families faced with …
What Part Family Plays in Poverty
Almost 50 years ago, an ambitious young assistant secretary of labor named Daniel Patrick Moynihan wrote a doomsday-ish report warning of the consequences of the alarming rise of black single moms. He made a direct link between …