I've nearly finished reading this book & it's pretty good...written by an only child who has gone on to have an only child. She basically sets out to write a book that deals with the question 'if you knew that by having one child you wouldn't screw them up, then would many people go on to have a second?'
She also says that it is easier to 'give in' and have another child, than it is to stand up for your decision to have one. She's obviously been on the receiving end of some judgmental comments...which anyone with one child will know all too well.
She also challenges alot of the stereotypes surrounding only children...selfish, lonely, weird. I find these stereotypes particularly annoying because my DD is such a lovely girl, she's good at sharing, she's sociable & her behaviour in a group of kids is often better than the children who have siblings. She says that research show that children with siblings are often more selfish because they have to fight to protect what's theirs. My husband is a middle child of 3 and he still eats his food like someone is going to come along and steal it!!
I do however feel her book is aimed at women who want to have a glittering career. She is an urbanite New Yorker with a successful writing career under her belt. Her main argument seems to hinge on the idea that if you want to have a good job, travel or have any quality of life outside of the home...then have one child. She says 'happy mothers = happy children'. Which is true, if you feel bogged down with parenthood & juggling loads of things, then you're children will feel that unhappiness.
Even after reading this book, it still hasn't made me feel that having one child is right. She talks to lots of psychologists & only children who are now adults & many beg her not to have one child! She then counters those arguments with research & interviews with people who say it is a good thing to have one child. Even she admits it's not nice being an only child when you hit the teenage years, one child against two adults who reprimand you all the time, she called her parents the 'united front' & she felt lonely as a teenager.
She talks about Tina Fey & her struggle to decide whether to have another child. I found this online, it's a pretty long article, but I can relate to some of her thoughts & feelings about having a second. It's worth a read.
www.newyorker.com/magazine/2011/02/14/confessions-of-a-juggler
Tina Fey went one to have another child after years of agonising about it...I think ultimately many women end up doing the same.