Ann Bailey A mass of pink-wearing humanity wound its way through New York’s Central Park last weekend. Young, old, male, female, babies in strollers and young adults on roller skates all joined in to express support to family members who have suffered from breast cancer and...
Rachel Allison I recently heard a speaker tell of a nurse of the terminally ill who often asked her patients, “Do you have any regrets?” This nurse’s question has given me pause to reflect, and I’m not even sick. Her patients’ most frequent responses? 1. I wish I...
Thursday, in a 2-1 decision, the Second Court of Appeals in New York City gave Gays and Lesbians a new form of constitutional protection against discrimination. The ruling came in a case that is already pending in the Supreme Court. One of ten DOMA cases...
Rachel Allison Last night my sister shared this true experience with me as told by Jeffrey Holland, one of the current leaders in the Mormon Faith. It touched my heart as I thought back on the mistakes I made as a mother. Like Mr. Holland, I...
Diane Robertson In drafting a law that would legalize gay-marriage in France, French law-makers are taking gender neutrality one step further. They plan to remove the terms, “Mother” and “Father” from all government documents. The law that will be presented to France’s President Francois Hollande's cabinet for...
Ann Bailey Ever wonder what things would be like if same-sex marriage were legalized throughout the U.S.? Gallaudet University’s recent suspension of their chief diversity officer gives us a clue. Why was Angela McCaskill – the first deaf African American Woman to earn a Ph.D. from...
Rachel Allison My husband and I just returned from a five-day road trip to see family and friends. We were in the car 24 hours of the trip. The first hour or so going and the first hour or so returning is always full of good...
Greg Barlow "Epigenetics" is the name given to a theory that presumes that the life experiences of our ancestors are actually implanted into our DNA. Early psychoanalytical theory sought to find ways to deprogram this 'genetic heritage' assuming that an abundance of emotional and psychological characteristics...
Here’s the question we asked our readers: “Is it appropriate for a college professor to breastfeed her baby during a class lecture?” Here’s how readers responded: 18 Percent Yes, what’s the big deal 9 Percent Only if there’s no other option 73 Percent No 0 Percent Can’t decide We came to...
Greg Barlow Recently I was in a physician’s waiting room with several other patients including a very loud and needy young boy. With nervous smiles around everyone settled in to make the best of flying crayons and toys and magazines strewn throughout. As a woman entered the...
Rachel Allison My husband and I have totally different parenting styles. I have often wondered how I ended up being the strict disciplinarian. He on the other hand had an open-door policy with our children. Any time a discussion or heart to heart conversation was needed...
Rachel Allison My aunt died this week. My mom only had one brother. Because I grew up just four blocks away from him and my Aunt Barbara, I feel that my second mom has passed away. Because I had two girl cousins that were close to my...
Greg Barlow Recently a Texas road construction project was postponed because of the discovery of a rare species of spider. The project will not resume until scientists have fully evaluated the risks to the spider's habitat posed by a continuation of the project. Thousands of acres of...
Ann Bailey Showing once again that same-sex marriage is far from inevitable, the Australian parliament has voted overwhelming to reject same-sex marriage. On September 19th, the lower house voted 98 to 42 against gay marriage and the next day thSenate followed suit with a 41 to...
Here’s the question we asked UFI readers: “Women: Would you consider being a surrogate mother for an adult child or other family member?” Here’s how readers responded: 16 percent “Yes” 65 percent “No Way” 19 percent “Uncertain” This question was asked in the quake of a slate of news reports of...
Grace Sailor As I was surfing the Internet for national and world news I happened to see a blog/testimonial that I have to share with our UFI readers. It reminded me a lot of my own wedding experience. What a great memory!...
Rachel Allison Historians such as Edward Gibbon (1737-94), Arnold Toynbee (1889-1975) and Will Durant (1885-1981) have analyzed the reasons for the fall of mighty civilizations. In summarizing cause and effect, an American educator lists six common reasons why each civilization fell: 1. They lost their religious convictions and...
Carol Soelberg You may not even know who Mark Regnerus is but to United Families International, he is a hero. We have waited almost two weeks to write about the vindication of Mark Regnerus, in the hope that we would be able to report that the...
Rachel Allison An article posted on “Mercator” entitled “How Addiction is Invading our Lives” is a must read for anyone who has a tendency toward addictive behavior. Francis Phillips does a great job summarizing Damian Thompson’s The Fix: How addiction is invading our lives and taking over your...
Diane Robertson The United States Supreme court convenes soon. This season, the court will look at several cases concerning family law. On September 24th, the Supreme Court will begin its first review of Hollingworth v. Perry, commonly known as Proposition 8. On this same day, the...
Diane Robertson Michelle Obama gave a stirring and powerful speech at the Democratic National Convention on Tuesday. She recalled a heart-warming love story between herself and the President. She talked about some of the values that mean the most to me and many Americans—family and hard...
Kelli Houghton Clint Eastwood’s speech at the Republic National Convention sure made waves this past week. Like many others, I thought the timing of the speech and some of the content was a bit unusual – but there were some elements that I loved. I especially...
Rachel Allison Once again the importance of staying connected with our adult children has been pounded home to me. The past several weeks are proof that although I believe my husband and I should “have a life,” when our children’s needs arise we must make ourselves...
Here’s the question we asked UFI readers: "During a week, how many evening meals do you sit down and eat together as a family?" Here’s how readers responded: 57 Percent Virtually every night 1 Percent Once a week 8 Percent 2-3 times a week 34 Percent 4-5 times a week As the...
Diane Robertson The Salt Lake City TV station, KSL has decided not to air NBC’s new homosexual themed sitcom, “The New Normal”. With the intense public debate over gay marriage, KSL’s controversial decision has made national headlines. NBC gives this description of the show on their website:...
