How absurd! Why should a man be used and treated like a 'baby father machine'? To be independent simply means not being dependent on or controlled by another person or thing. Women who do or say this don't know what it means to be truly independent. They are naive and atrocious.

Both parents play a vital role in a child's life. Do these women know the joy a child feels when he or she sees parents together in love and unity?

If the only thing a woman wants from a man is for him to father her baby then it's okay for a guy to have sex with a girl then dump her - isn't it the same thing? What a dumb thought!

For every relationship, there must be respect. Women, if we want men to respect us, then it's time for us to show them respect and let them feel loved and appreciated.

Kadie-Ann Cresser, kadiecress@yahoo.com

These women have clearly laid out their goals and where they stand.

In my opinion, this can be good; furthermore, it facilitates co-operation and a mutual understanding between both sexes. However, I do not believe that the only thing that these women want is a father for their child(ren).

I do believe that they need support, love and affection even in the slightest way from these men.

Nevertheless, with this newfound independence, it can ease the pressure off men and especially those with commitment phobia.

However, I do think that some of these women are just full of false pride and are pompously trying to be self-sufficient and independent. No man is an island and both sexes complement each other. No matter how much we claim independence, we are all inter-dependent. Believe it or not, we all need each other to survive. Each of us contributes to each other's wholesome importance and well-being.

Jade Cross, St. Ann

AMEN to that! Well that was me then. I would have been the founder of that belief prior to meeting my boyfriend.

Unfortunately for me then, there were very few guys who I could call my equal. Some had potential but still did not cut it.

Hence, my plan was to take time off from church, approximately one year, and find a nice guy specimen. Ensure that everything was right (ovulation) and just let him plant the seed and when it starts growing I'd just tell him, it was fun but got to go.

That is all I wanted from him, to be a sperm donor. I would have done so too, but my plans were foiled by (1) God and (2) my current boyfriend.

But any female who has thought about it, I say rethink it. And for those who have done so BIG UP and HOORAY to you.

Kaye Lambert, nurseeverycare@yahoo.com

It is said that the hand that rocks the cradle rules the world and that hand for the vast majority of Jamaicans is the hand of mother - caring, loving, nurturing and constant. We celebrate and honour her, and rightly so. However, we must never discount the critical role of that often missing link - that of father.

We inherit our name and identity from father. Provided he is not dysfunctional, he protects, guides, supports and validates his seed. He teaches his son how to be a man and his daughter how to choose a man. He is that source of strength that brings security and stability to the home which he heads. Those who have had the opportunity to know and receive of his love consider themselves blessed.

No doubt independent women who opt for sperm donors have their reasons and should not be scoffed at. However, good sense must prevail as the rearing of a child is not for the faint-hearted. It is a huge responsibility that requires both parents and must be approached with wisdom and gravity.

It should be every mother's goal to give the gift of a good father to her child. To do otherwise is to create potential social chaos; evidence of which abounds in our society.

Marcia A. Whyte, Kingston

There are other ways of asserting one's independence without being selfish. You don't need a man? You don't want commitment? This child does!

Parenthood is one of the most profound life-changing commitments to providing him/her with not only physiological needs, but just as importantly, psychological and emotional security.

Every child deserves the sense of belonging to a two-parent household that is dynamic, if not, the next best thing, the loving reassurance of both parents, sharing active participation in that child's upbringing.

Let's not insinuate that a man's sole purpose in life is to procreate, and hence perpetuate the single parent syndrome.

Not to belittle in any way the hardships that single parents go through to successfully provide for their children, but many would be the first to say they had to play dual roles because there was no one else. Many believe, both children and parents alike, they were short-changed. Why subject a child to that?

As a female, one of the most beautiful aspects of conceiving a child is the spiritual and physical bond shared between the parents, which then manifest itself through the nurturing and development of that impressionable being.

Kimika Prawl, Portmore, kimikasoul@yahoo.com

Yes, they exist. For different reasons, they exist, including these discussed below:

You find them in their plush apartments - wherever. They call themselves 'career women' - the Miss Independents whose biological clock has alarmed, "I must have a baby, let me find myself a stud." After the positive test, Mr. Stud is history.

You will find them in the less-fortunate spheres of life. Their reason is financial security. They need to have five different baby fathers from whom they collect child maintenance. They know that the Family Court is in their corner.

You will find them as those who require status. They must have a child to prove that they are not mules, regardless of the consequences. These types usually try to better 'the stock', so we will see Negro women with Chinese, Indian or white babies.

Put it all together and what do we have? Children who must live their lives without their father's love and guidance because their mothers designed it so. Do not ask what has happened to the dutiful fathers. They were not meant to be in the first place.

I think these women should be sent to prison. The unfortunate thing is that the children would suffer a double blow.

How can we expect to have a society any different from what we have in Jamaica?

Owen, Kingston

I would say these women need to think again and go back to the source of our lives who is the creator of the whole universe and who has set some guidelines in His words that we should live by. Parenting is not an easy task and there is not a written manual of how one should be a good parent. So, therefore, we need both parents to raise their children effectively. When a married couple plans to start a family it is not just a mother thing or a father thing. Instead, it is a parent thing, where both of them are going to do it together.

This is where the problem starts: Women are getting more educated and all, which I do not have a problem with. But it is when she would say that all she wants from a man is just for him to father her child/children, that is it.

That is why we are facing the problem we are having in our society today. It is as if they would want to change the family structure that the Lord has ordained from creation. We need to get it right and if we don't, we are going to mess up big time in the future. What makes the situation even worse is that the women of today are using their independence to justify their wrongs, and it ought not be.

Being independent does not mean that women should go have a child/children or not want to be in a committed relationship. Someone may be independent and is in a committed relationship and the man is a part of the family and doing what the Lord sets out for him to do. A man must be the provider and the protector of the family and those are just two out of the many tasks he has.

I do not believe a well-thinking woman must think that way; if she does, she needs to consult the creator of the universe (the Lord).

At times a woman is left alone to raise her child/children but in this situation it is not her doing, but may be due to other circumstances such as death etc.

I know there are a lot of wonderful women out there who mean well and some of them have to do both the mothering and fathering of their child/children, but not because she is being 'independent'. What this means is that she has been caught in a bad situation and she has to make good of the situation, so that her child/children may value what she is doing for them.

For the society to maintain order, good values and attitudes, we need to encourage family - that is, two people getting married and starting a family.

Douglas Grant, dougiefreshh@yahoo.com

Women who say they only want a man to father their children are very selfish and should not even be thinking about having a child.

God created male and female to reproduce and take care of their children. If He didn't want a child to have both parents He would have created Adam only or Eve only, but He created both of them as He knows that without both of them in the life of a child, that child would lack what that parent had to offer.

Being a child from a single-parent home, I know what I am talking about. I grew up without the love and guidance of my father and it has affected me as I have no trust for men as I view most men as irresponsible individuals who just want the gratification of sex but not the responsibility of being a father.

I believe women who say this were hurt by men in one way or the other and have not got over the hurt.

Faithlin Williams, faithlinwill@yahoo.com

I find that totally unacceptable. These women are not thinking of the long-term effects on their children's psychological make-up.

This is a breakdown of morals and values that will deprive the children of a decent family life. A child is raised with sufficient discipline when he or she has a stable home.

Women who only want men to father their children are asserting a negative influence. They are sending a message to their own children who may adopt this behaviour and experiment without thinking of the consequences of their actions.

These women are not doing themselves any justice, but instead are creating a lot of problems for themselves and their children.

Think of the shame that the child suffers knowing that the only thing his/her mother wanted was for a man to father him or her.

Phillip-Jay Carter, Phillipjcarter@hotmail.com

I'm assuming that these women fear love; so it's not because they are independent, but because they are afraid of committing themselves to the kind of love that's so deep they never know what awaits them.

For they know that there's no safety net should they fall, so they simply decide not to jump, but instead find ways to get the experience without the commitment. Maybe the problem with us women is that we find it hard to accept love because it isn't perfect, but there are no perfect persons. All we have are perfect moments.

If there is love and respect that goes beyond sex, if they cannot find something meaningful such as real intimacy, then there's no way that these two persons should decide to have a child. Especially these women who deep inside merely feel that having a child with this man is the only way to keep a part of him that otherwise she feels she cannot have ... love taken from his body, his spirit and his soul.

Maybe we should stop contemplating the worst possibilities of what happens when we jump, and start embracing the joy that can happen when we do. Plus, if these women are independent, THAT'S THEIR SAFETY NET!

Latoya Kalinton, Top Milford, Ocho Rios, St. Ann

On the face of it, this situation seems to be about wanting to have your cake and eat it. One may even be tempted to describe it as being selfish, particularly since it amounts to deliberately denying the child the total experience of having both parents share in the process of his development.

Realistically though, one can understand where these women are coming from. In a country where so many men disappear when they discover that their partner is pregnant, maybe the best thing to do is to consciously separate the men from the process from the very beginning! It saves your sanity!

Even when you think you are in a stable relationship and you discuss the possibility of starting a family, some men seem reasonably comfortable, but when it becomes a reality, they just can't deal with it financially or emotionally, so they split! The women would be on their own anyway.