Explores the when, why, how, and with whom Americans bear children, and how the United States compares to other developed and developing countries in the world. Subjects include infertility and its treatments, the ethics of surrogacy and international adoption, voluntary childlessness, the rapid rise of nonmarital childbearing in the United States and other countries, the politics of childbirth, the risks of maternal morbidity and mortality in developed and developing countries, and the declining populations and rapid aging of rich countries including Japan, Italy, and Spain where many women have stopped having children. Sociology 307K and Women's and Gender Studies 301 (Topic 20) may not both be counted. Three lecture hours or two lecture hours and one discussion hour a week for one semester.