Celeb Watch: Christina Aguilera, Nicole Richie, Cheryl and Ashley Cole

Christina Aguilera and Nicole Richie are both enticing a number of high-profile publications who want the right to print the first photos of their babies. Marie Claire reports:

A bidding war has erupted between OK! and People magazine for the first pictures of Christina’s son Max Liron, and the asking price has already reached $1.5 million.

Nicole Richie and Joel Madden have already signed a deal with People magazine, where they will get $1 million for the photo debut of daughter Harlow Winter Kate.

I wonder at the lives of the rich and famous, yet the bidding war is only active because the magazines know that large sections of the general public want to see the photos. No doubt they’ll be leaked onto the Internet anyway. So much for the privacy of kids with famous parents.

Meanwhile, Cheryl Cole is being urged by her family and friends to leave husband Ashley, after claims from at least two women that he had affairs with them:

The latest claim comes from glamour model, Brook Healy, who is alleged to have been approached by Cole in December 2006 at London’s Funky Buddha club - just five months after the Coles’ marriage - and later slept with the footballer.

The Girls Aloud star [Cheryl] stated: “I was furious… but I’m determined to be strong. Ashley’s a wonderful husband and we’re in love. I won’t let this woman destroy our marriage.”

Celeb Watch: Gwyneth Paltrow, Eddie Murphy, Britney Spears

Marie Claire speculates that Gwneth Paltrow may be pregnant:

The New York Daily News is reporting that Paltrow was taken to the hospital by husband Chris Martin because she is pregnant with her third child. A source revealed to the paper that Paltrow spent time in the maternity wing of the hospital, and added, “They looked very serious. She looked upset. They went right past everyone and into the elevator. It seemed like they were expected.”

Eddie Murphy has split from his wife, Tracey Edmonds, after just two weeks of marriage, reports Marie Claire:

The reason for the break-up? According to sources in America, the honeymoon was “marred by screaming matches and arguments all week”.

In fact, even on the wedding day there were warning signs that all was not right. “Eddie started yelling at Tracey in front of people,” one guests told People magazine. “He did it on a few occasions and it was very embarrassing.”

Troubled star Britney Spears is also rumoured to be pregnant, as she was allegedly seen buying a home pregnancy test:

…the singer and her new boyfriend, 35-year-old paparazzo Adnan Ghalib, were photographed in a drug store in LA shopping for home pregnancy tests.

However, given the photographs were released by Ghalib’s own picture agency, some are already crying foul and believe the snaps might just be a juicy little earner for the couple and a crafty joke at the media’s expense.

Or at Britney’s expense. Hasn’t she been through enough recently?

Pope proclaims marriage and family to be shared human values

Pope Benedict has sent a message to the head of the Italian Episcopal Conference, Archbishop Angelo Bagnasco, as the cities of Pistoia and Pisa mark the 45th Social Week, asserting that respect for life and the protection of marriage and the family are human values.

The theme for this year’s Social Week is: “The common good today: a commitment that comes from afar.” The Pope affirmed that this theme “still maintains all its importance.”

The pontiff spoke directly to lay men and women about their role in society saying that they must “work for a correct ordering of society … and to cooperate in the just organization of social life together with all other citizens, each according to their skills and under their own autonomous responsibility.”

Countering the assertion by some segments of society that marriage, the family and the right to life are solely religious issues, Pope Benedict XVI reasoned that “these are not just ‘Catholic’ values and principles, but shared human values to be protected and safeguarded, like justice, peace and the defense of creation.”

He went on to say that “respect for life and the attention that must be given to the needs of the family based on marriage between a man and a woman,” are issues that cannot be ignored.

Via Catholic.org

Financial problems: make your partner your first contact

Professionals who offer advice to people in financial difficulty state how important it is to maintain active and open communication with those with whom you have a financial relationship with.

This is usually taken to mean creditors, your mortgage lender, your bank, and your landlord, but if you are married or in a committed long-term relationship, the person you should have the closest financial relationship with is your partner.

Regardless of how you have decided to run your financial lives together - be it completely joined, completely separate, or somewhere in between - you still have a commitment to one another in every area of your life.

It’s no surprise that money can cause all sorts of relationship problems if not dealt with openly and honestly, and yet a survey last year showed that many people would not share their credit score with their partner.

That’s just one example.

Read more

UK Law Commission calls for more rights for unwed couples

A report by the Law Commission calls for unwed couples to have more legal rights.

It claims that most couples living together still believe they are protected by a “common law” marriage, when in fact this isn’t true.

The report calls for a financial value to be put on the contribution each person brings to the relationship. This would mean that financial compensation would be given to someone who gives up work to look after children, if the relationship ends.

The Commission denies that their proposals undermine marriage. Earlier this month the Conservative party called for a number of financial incentives for married couples. The two proposals aren’t mutually exclusive.

Read

Parental divorce is key factor in break-ups amongst their children

This may sound obvious to some, but a new study suggests that the rate of relational and marital breakup was higher amongst those whose parents had divorced.

The study looked at other factors, such as genetics or parental substance abuse, but found that divorce itself was a key factor that lead to the higher rate in children.

Brian D’Onofrio, assistant professor in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences at Indiana University Bloomington, said that when a host of variables are taken into consideration, such as genetic risks and socioeconomic factors, the real divorce still accounts for around 66 percent of the increased risk of divorce faced by children of divorced parents. “This means the transmission is not due to psychological or substance abuse problems that are passed from parents to the offspring. It’s something very unique about the separation of one’s parents. The societal implications are very important because divorce is such a painful experience for both adults and children. This further suggests that interventions specifically targeted at the consequences of divorce are important for our society,” D’Onofrio said.

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Over one-third of US births to unmarried mothers, survey suggests

New data released by the Federal Interagency Forum on Child and Family Statistics suggests that, in 2005, births to unmarried mothers accounted for over one-third of the total births in the United States, at 37%.

However, pregnancy amongst teenagers fell, thanks to reduced sexual activity, or the increased use of contraception.

The report, perhaps controversially, also suggests that children born to unmarried mothers are more likely to have a lower birth weight, higher mortality rate, and are at higher risk of living in poverty.

Having said that, single mothers who have significant economic resources don’t generally have these problems.

Read

Women rule in the home and marriage, study suggests

A small study from researchers at Iowa University has concluded that many women rule the marriage relationship and the home, due in part to changing times and roles of the sexes.

The survey of 72 married couples shows that the man does not always hold the power, particularly where children are concerned.

“Roles have changed in a relationship. Women are no longer just in charge of the house and cleaning and cooking and standing there with a martini when husbands come home,” Dr. Fariello said.

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Tories propose tax relief for married couples

The UK Conservative Party has proposed that married couples be given a £20 per week tax and benefit boost.

Leader David Cameron has suggested that the benefits system has to lose its “anti-marriage bias” in order to fix the UK’s “broken society”.

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Having children is ninth most important thing in a marriage, US survey finds

A new poll by the Pew Research Centre suggests that “having children” is the ninth most important thing out of ten markers of what makes a successful marriage.

Above them lie factors such as healthy sexual relationships, faithfulness, sharing of household chores, economic and religious factors, and shared tastes and interests.

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British society dramatically changing: 25% of children are in single-parent families

The number of lone mothers bringing up children has tripled since the 1970s, and a quarter of British children now grow up in a single-parent family (predominantly with their mother).

Marriage rates have dropped from 480,000 in 1972 to just 284,000 last year.

Divorce levels are almost at 2 out of every 3 marriages.

Cohabitation (living together outside of the traditional marriage) has risen from 12% to 24%.

Adding strain to both traditional and new expressions of the ‘family unit’ is the fact that, primarily for financial reasons, children are staying longer in the parental home.

When they do move out, typically some time in their 20s, they can afford only smaller properties, usually flats, which can lead to disputes with neighbours due to living in more confined living spaces.

The number of men and women between the ages of 25 and 44 living alone has doubled in the past 20 years.

This can lead to a lack of community and a breakdown of trust.

A BBC article concludes on this issue:

Britain is not alone in seeing family breakdown and social isolation but it is as acute here as almost anywhere and arguments over the causes and the consequences have made this increasingly political territory.

Read

Building Up Your Marriage with Healthy Communication

Would you like to have a stronger, healthier, more enjoyable marriage? I am sure that you would. And yet we live in a culture where about half of all marriages will shatter and end in a divorce, leaving behind the wreckage of broken adults and broken children.

If we are to build healthy marriages, we much do so “on purpose.” We cannot just hope that it will happen by accident. “Hope,” say the generals, “is not a good strategy.” Planning, work, and the investment of time, are much better strategies for any important endeavor of life. The first characteristic of a healthy marriage for us to consider is the way that we talk to our spouse, and the way that we talk about our spouse.

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