Well, slap my wrinkled backside and call me a dinosaur. Apparently, popping out a sprog in New Jersey or New York now costs up to $50,000. A C-section? Nearly $80,000. In my day, you got a baby and a pack of cigarettes for the price of a hospital parking ticket. Now it's like buying a luxury car, except the car screams at 3 AM and won't stop until it's 18.
And they say young people can't afford to have kids. Gee, I wonder why. You could put a down payment on a house for the cost of a routine delivery. And what do you get? A squalling bundle of joy who'll eventually put you in a home.
Back when I was a lad, we had babies at home with a midwife and a bottle of whiskey. Both for the mother and the father. Now you need a team of specialists, a private suite, and a valet. No wonder the birth rate is dropping. The only thing going up faster than costs is my blood pressure. Bah humbug.