In our fraught moment of diminishing reproductive rights and demographic panic, ‘The Baby Decision’ has become an unlikely cult bible for the baby ambivalent, a group whose ranks have been growing among 30-something millennials in the U.S. Originally published in 1981, the book pairs existential musings on regret with workbook-style prompts and invites readers to picture almost every stage of their life as a parent and as a child-free person. “It helps readers turn their abstract, often societally generated pictures of adulthood into something vivid and personal,” Sanjena Sathian writes. “‘The Baby Decision‘ may be as old as the oldest millennials, but it is still landing with me and my friends,” Sathian writes. “Many readers I spoke to about the book called it ‘ahead of its time,’ citing Bombardieri’s queer-inclusive language, her endorsement of a ‘one and done’ approach to childbearing for some people, and her humanistic belief that there are many ways to build a valuable life. Parenthood, she believes, should not be the default path.” “The more they know about why they are making that choice, the better they are going to be able to cope when things are hard,” Bombardieri told Sathian. Read more about how a 1981 book is finding its audience in today’s millennials: