General Chat

Maz, well said, I don't think CC is a bad role model, I happen to think that despite her money and all the publicity good and bad over the years, she seems very balanced and down to earth. I think she really loves Gavin and is often quoted as hankering after an engagement ring, I would imagine this little one is a bit of a mistake but she is happy with the situation and he will go along with it cos he loves her. At least no-one can say she did it to get a council house lol Good luck to her, the baby will want for nothing and I am sure will be very well loved, and at the end of the day, so long as that little mite is warm, fed and loved, why should we worry whether it's parents have a piece of paper to make them stay together. Good luck to them all. Liz

Getting married first didn't do Britney or Sir Paul much good did it? Or the Royal Family come to that! Charlotte seems to be taking a really responsible attitude - she has given up drinking and smoking and is eating well - unlike a lot of celebs. You are either good parents or not ... being married doesn't change your abilities on that score. Most of us single parents had no intention of being so when we decided to have children - that doesn't make us bad parents or bad role models. I'd rather my daughter had CC as a role model than Posh or Kate Moss or Britney or Jordan.

I have to confess that it doesn't bother me at all whether they're married or not; I'd say as long as they're committed to eachother, great. For example, Gene Simmons and his lady? They've never married, but have two grown-up children, and they're still very much together. My greater concern would be like someone else's earlier on (sorry, forgot who said it!), i.e. if she smoked and drank alcohol etc. during the pregnancy. x

I think I am right in saying that 'married' couples statisticaly are more likely to put more effort into and work through their relationship problems than unmarrieds.....also a lot of unmarried couples are unmarried because one of them refuses to make the commitment and not because the agreement is mutual.

I can't see how it can be said that she's promoting an irresponsible attitude. She isn't 16 and flitting from boyfriend to boyfriend she's 21, financially independent and in a long term relationship. Being married doesn't make for a stable relationship - if it did there wouldn't be record numbers of divorces. I did it in the 'right' order as did most of my friends but we are the only ones still married. Gwynne

Bob, I can see where your coming from, Charlotte is only a few years younger than me but I would never choose to have a child out of wedlock, it's not my way, but at the same time she has been in the relationship with Gavin for some time and they are both finantially stable so marriage would bring little stability to their relationship. It may be that they see marriage as an expence that they could spend elsewhere and the certificate as just a peice of paper. But then again who's to say they arn't married? they could elope and get married at any time, anywhere and may have already done just that. I have friends who had children out of wedlock and that is their choice, one got engaged and had a baby at 20, her partener was in his 40's with 3 teenage children. I also have a relatives that married just before their second child was born, 21 years after the first child was born (I suspect that the wife may have lost a few children in those 21 years).

Robin, she MAY be financially sound and apparently in a stable relationship, and dependent on no one.....but my criticism is directed at the irresponsible attitude she MAY be projecting to vulnerable youngsters...(she is not the only one,but the one in the frame at the moment) She, to my mind is giving the OK to kids to behave irresponsibly, to their own bodies....its OK to give away your affection without due regard to the possible cost.. it appears that the UK is the ''illegitimacy'' capital of europe........now thats a title to look up to...isnt it? Bob

I will put a spanner in the works here, I don't recall anyone bringing the Bible or Jesus's words into this debate. Bob I think I love you-you sound like my kind of guy Janet

can't see anything wrong with it at all - they have been together for quite a while, are obviously settled, happy and committed to each other - I'm very pleased for them. you can hardly compare her to Britney. Maz. XX

PMSL I wonder if My Good Lady might make the rest of us privvy to her most interesting dreams ?

Some Debating Society this has turned out to be !!!! ........................ I think that all these old todgers have dropped off to sleep ! LOL

Whose old todger has fallen off......oops I think I fell asleep .

I just hope she doesn't set a bad example by binge drinking when pregnant, that is more worrying to me! :0S Joan

And being permitted to not having to succumb to the will of others is, presumably, a valid reason not to get married !

Being fully committed to each other enough to want to start a family is a very good reason to get married - so, why not?

There's nowt 'new' about having kids and not being married it was very common in 1800s but was never mentioned. My paternal G'Pa was born out of wedlock, used 3 different surnames, never married but he and his partner had 18 kids. I think it's better being 'out in the open' as the resulting children of a modern partnership don't suffer like kids did in the 1800s (and indeed more modern times) if it came out that they were born out of wedlock. However, it would, in my view, result in a more stable society if marriage was the norm. Brown should reinstate the Married Man's Tax Allowance and help to encourage marriage. The celebrities have so much money anything goes and they have to think up daft things to do to relieve their boredom, plus, of course to keep in the public eye. They, for the most part are a boring and tedious lot.

I know of people that arent married and have Children,One couple I know have been married 30 years,still together and are Blissfully happy. I only found out recently that they never officially married. Some people just dont need a marriage certificate to prove their devotion. I have to say,I like the Idea of marriage,but thats just my own personal feelings:-))

Sorry Bob if you thought I was saying that you were old fashioned......what I meant was that the idea of marriage, then children was an old concept for today......it seems that anything goes..... I liked the idea of getting engaged, then married from home, then setting up house together too, but these days the ideas have changed.... What amazed me was the attitude of my parents when my daughter and her then boyfriend went to stay with them, they let them stay together at night........now when I said to Dad, you wouldn't have let me do that, you would have gone mad if I suggested it.....he said that I was old-fashioned and that it seemed a good idea to get to know each other first......What????

I still echo what Bob has said and I still say if you are truly committed to each other why not get married first then start a family - I cannot see any reason not to.

I cannot help but feel that such events are guided more by the heart than by the mind. But, casting that aside for the moment, let me ask you this Bob ........ What message does it send to you when you hear of a young lady who, at the peak of her reproductive life, who financially relies upon no one, who has seen hell and high water in previous relationships, decides to start a family with a man for whom she cares for very much and who, on the face of it, cares for her likewise ?