Will the ‘Baby Daddy’ Study Bring More Drama for Black Women?

April 1st, 2011 - By Veronica Wells

A University of Michigan study found that the number of women who are having children by multiple partners is increasing in America. For American women who had two or more children, 28 percent of them had done so with more than one man.

For African American women the number rose to 58 percent.

Some believe the survey will serve as further ammunition for the media to attack black women. Avis Jones-DeWeever, executive director of the National Council of Negro Women had this to say:

I have a lot of respect for the University of Michigan, and as a researcher myself, I certainly don’t want to discount the value of research,” Jones-DeWeever explained. “What I am concerned about is how it’s going to be sensationalized in the media. I am concerned that this will be another way that this country will put a negative label on black women which, in this country, we have a long history of doing.”

What do you think, should black women come under scrutiny for these numbers?

Check out more results from the study and rest of the article at theGrio.com.

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  • imMe

    @stella. Great comment.

  • imMe

    I’m doing my part by only having one child. I don’t want anymore. My 2 yr old is more than I can handle. I do think it is acceptable to have two baby daddys. My mom had me for my dad, who she was married to at the time, and waited 10 yrs and had my little bro. She is married to his dad now. More than two then you are sad and need to learn how to value yourself. It’s not cute. Some women are so desperate to be with a man that she would do anything to try to keep him.

  • Dee

    Black women are NOT having more babies than other women in this country. The study concludes that black women have the highest percentage as far as American women who have two or more children by multiple partners. If you read news articles or listen to the nightly news, you'd know that the Hispanic population is increasing in this country at the highest rate due to Hispanic women giving birth. I am a black woman in my late 20s and I have never had any children nor have I had any abortions. I think it's ignorant for some of you to generalize about a group of people. Yes, the numbers point to an alarming trend, but do not look at every black woman and think that all of them are the same. We are a diverse group of women whether you believe it or not, and yes, many of us are highly educated.
    http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2008-06-29-hi…
    http://www.ecuadortimes.net/2011/03/25/u-s-hispan…

  • natalienjackson

    We lifted the stigma when we stopped accurately calling them unwed mothers.. the switc to single mother seems to have empowered some in a way that has had a detrimentl impact on our community.. for instance if the child achieves at the highest level and graduates college it is a testament to the strength and courage of a” single” mother.. however if the child ends up in prison it is due exclusively to fatherlessness? I must admit as a woman who continues to fight for choice the numbers of sistas that continue to defer responsibility to black men for unwanted pregnancy is disturbing. Choice is not just about the option of abortion but us having the choice preconception to prevent unwanted pregnancies and still having the choice post conception. In 2011 it can no longer be our choice our body…his responsibility. This fundamental right that we ha e as women demands that we take greater responsibilty for the conditions under which we bring children in the world under. The shift from mother father child to mother child child child support has destroyed our communities. Im not offended that its our season to take a little heat..black men ha e had the blame for many of our communitys ills laid at their feet for decades. We cannot contnue to focus on the contraception that is the male symbol of sexual responsibility (condoms) while never talking about the tons of options available to us to prevent pregnancies. Stop treating birth control like we have the equivalent of a peanut allergy for black women and oow childbirth will come down. I love and will continue to fight for our reproductive rights but I will no longer accept absolving ourselves of responsibility for a big part in this mess.

  • equalops

    Don't mind FUkn them but dont want to marry them. If the btch get pregnant coz she hooked on my big blk dk and have a baby, Oh well. I'm not payin no child support, let the govenment take care of em. I got 3 babys mommas already. I'll take the jucy puzzi and her money but spend it on my white or spanish female and getting high. That's the black mans mentality and it's not going to change. The black man has failed himself and his family. Problems like this and the criminal element will get worse before it gets any better.

    • Mich

      Its not just the 'black men'! All the study said was black women, how do you know that the babies fathers aren't white? hispanic? chinese?? So stop it with the black man trashing, a lot of them actually own up to their responsibilities

  • Imjussayin

    Here we go again…Some wanna have sense, somewhat intelligent person conducts a study. BS….true blaque…I feel ur comment. First we are killing our unborn and now we are having numerous kids w/multiple men. And yes it is true, Many women do have multiple children with different men. But is is not only bw….it is any woman who choose to go from one relationship to the next and doesnt protect herself. It is the wm how go from one marriage to the next. It is the women who dont believe in abortions. Ok…get over it.

  • olehead

    Oh plz other races do that crap too. I worked for the the state of NC and it wasn t just black women coming in there with 5 kids and 5 baby daddies.

  • olehead

    There needs to be a study to find out why so many ppl care so much about black women. This study is bullsh!t.

  • Just had to say

    Granted a woman may have two babies with two diffrent fathers but that doesnt mean she sleeps around. I have a child with a man who doesnt spend a lot of time but pays child support…was i NOT suppose to have more children because i didnt make the best decision on the father the first time? I now have a second child with a wonderful man who also treats my first born as his..am i woman who sleeps around? NO..but i learned from my first choice and made a better choice the second time around… Also abortion is easier said than done…

  • Prissy

    What about the Black men? LOL where are their statistics? If we are going to talk about folk we must have stuff on BOTH sides.

    • menissance

      WE IN JAIL…THEY ALREADY GOT THOSE STATISTICS…BUT THAT DOESN'T SEEM TO STOP THE BLACK FEMALE CO'S FROM FUCCIN THE CONVICTED BLACK MAN SO UR RIGHT, THEY NEED TO GOTO RIKERS AND BEGIN RESEARCHIN HOW MANY BABY DADDIES IN THERE….DONT BE MAD, THIS JUST ME AGAIN, KEEPIN IT ALL THE WAAAAY REAL IN THIS B1TCH LMAO

  • yaz

    I don’t like this study. On shame on you commenters who say theses negative things about black women. Not all black women sleep around. This country always put us down as people.

  • true blaque

    We just dont abort our kids as frequently as white women. These studies continue to be inconclusive and contridicating. We cant both be having abortions at high rates, then turn around and have high out of wed lock births, AND NOW have the highest multiple baby father rates, ummm WTH? IF no one doesnt see the inconsistancy along with the further destruction of the black woman image then you must be a self righteous white person or an in denial hispanic. And one more thing, are we blind to the fact that they rarely, if ever single out and show these stats and percentages of the white or hispanic woman? Of course not, know why? Because they average their stats according to who is married now. They arent calculating the black woman that has been married or widowed.

    • InnocentTruth

      Actually, if you review the numbers black women do have high rates of out of wedlock births and abortions. Obviously, women are getting pregnant multiple times and aborting children as they see fit. And before this study came out it was a well known fact that black women with multiple children usually have numerous baby daddies.

    • menissance

      @TRUE BLAQUE…I JUST WANT U TO KNOW I WAS ONE OF THE PPL THAT GAVE UR COMMENT A THUMBS DOWN, YEAH B1TCH, THAT WAS ME….KEEPIN ALL THE WAAAAY REAL ON THIS B1TCH LMAO

    • melanie

      what are you talking about–the study also showed BOTH hispanic and White women. the Black women's numbers were higher than theirs in both categories.

      Also, its possible to lead the category in abortions AND in baby daddies–it just means that instead of getting married, many of us are throwing away our children or procreating with numerous men.

  • InnocentTruth

    I'm not surprised by this study. Black women sleep around and everyone knows it. In general, most American women sleep around with a bunch of men. But it seems that only black females are the ones getting pregnant. For a bunch of women who claim to be so religious, I fail to see godliness in sleeping with everyone.

    • BBD

      They might claim to be religious and keep the baby. Instead of claiming to be religious and aborting the baby.

      • melanie

        umm-we account for a higher abortion rate than any other group, especially when compared to our population in the country. We make up more than 1 out of 3 abortions in the US, but we're not even 20% of the population…what the hell?

        LOL, Hispanics have a higher marriage rate, have more children, and still manage to have less 'fathers' for those children. there is something so broken in our culture, and it needs to be fixed. Who cares about the study, the problem is us. We need less 106th and park and more people to really stand up, and throw off all this looseness as a culture that we embrace. People go to church, but I don't think Black Americans take it seriously. It's just something 'to do'. I never heard of any Black pastor publically speaking out against Obama or something for the abortion policies. How do you invite politicians into your house of worship (liberal or conservative) when the platforms of their party go against what the bIble says?

  • menissance

    LMAO…BLK WOMEN RUNNIN SCARED CUZ THEY BOUT TO BE EXPOSED…UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN IS GONNA FIND OUT ALL THE TYRONES N DEDE'S OF THE HOOD/PRISON SYSTEM IS THE MAJORITY OF THE BABY DADDIES LOL…GO MICHIGAN!!!

  • Eugenia

    If black stopped having babies with multiple partners, they would have 'this' problem. It's your womb, you're the only one that can protect it.

    • mel

      pretty much. If 70% of Black children are now being born out of wedlock, please do all the research you want if it will at least alert people to the problem.

      I read the study, and it just confirmed what we already knew-Black women led Whites and hispanics in having multiple children. In the category of women who had at least 1 child, we were 58%, while hispanics were like 30% and whites were 20+ %