I don't say it's a choice that's easy to accept, Kat. But the economics and other pressures are a matter of choice - the choice being whether you value reproduction more than a comfortable existence. It's the same choice any other abused woman faces - do you stay as the emotional/physical punchbag in a pretty house, or do you get the hell out and live a happier life in a crappy flat?

I know I'm majorly understating the magnitude of the decision. But it's a decision, even if it's a decision to submit to the pressure. As a man (and fairly happily married), I know it's not a decision I'm likely to have to face, which is why I'm all the more impressed by women who do face up to abuse and make that truly heroic leap.

Graham.