The birthrate is dropping all over the world. Most of the conversation about population decline centers on the economic consequences when fewer people are having babies. But there is another side effect, fewer parents become grandparents. . When the New York Times recently did a story about the grief some parents feel about never becoming grandparents, it set off a firestorm of comments with one side accusing childless adults of being selfish and the other telling wannabe grandparents they are genetic narcissists. Dr Maggie Mulqueen is a psychologist in Boston and has counseled patients who long for grandchildren they will never have and offers advice about talking about the topic of children who don't have children without judgement.
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