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"A first-of-its kind, in-depth investigation into how companion animals and their humans have carved out a new type of family - the multi-species family - in which identities like parent, child, grandparent, and sibling transcend species to create new forms of kinship"--

Frontmatter -- Contents -- List of Figures and Tables -- Acknowledgments -- 1. Introduction -- 2. The Conservatives, Part 1 -- 3. The Conservatives, Part 2 -- 4. Issues of Empowerment and Liability -- 5. Identity and Integration -- 6. The Tie That Binds and Redeems -- Appendix A. The Research Design -- Appendix B. Survey of Political Attitudes of Young African-Americans -- Notes -- Works Cited -- Index -- About the Author

This article argues that for some who are childfree, the increasing perception of the companion animal as a sentient being with agency provides a deep, meaningful relationship with the power to inform fertility intentions. Qualitative, in‐depth interviews with childfree companion animal owners reveal that this relationship serves to reinforce previous fertility choices such as delaying or completely opting out of childbirth, thus affecting present household structure. This is reflected in the active choice by some participants to have companion animals instead of human children, the presence of a cost‐benefit analysis concerning animal companions and human children, and narratives that express a desire to mother or nurture as fulfilled in the relationship with the companion animal. Implications of these findings for both demography and marriage and family research in the United States are discussed.

The Right Reverend Dr. Paul Lionel Puryear, Sr., Professor Emeritus at the University of Virginia, passed away on Thursday, April 22, 2010, in Charlottesville, Virginia, at the age of 80. Born in Belleville, New Jersey, as the second son of the Reverend Thomas Langston Puryear, Sr., and the Reverend Pauline Sims Puryear, he attended public schools in Newark, New Jersey. He transferred as a high school freshman to the renowned Palmer Memorial Residential School in Sedalia, North Carolina. He became an ordained A.M.E. minister at the age of 18.