Clara, I'm a gay man, never going to sire a baby, so I'll dare to agree. It's also sickening because it's one more way that the haves can pamper themselves and the have-nots cannot. This pregnant mother is from an income bracket that means she's been waited on hand and foot for nine months. She'll turn her baby over to the nanny immediately anyway so that she can recover from her vaginal cosmetic surgery [yes, as soon as possible she's going to have her labia reduced and everything all 'tightened up for daddy'- bluck!!!] Now she can call all her tennis friends to talk about her diamonds. Across town, a woman who has worked through as much of her pregancy as possible will be worrying about how soon she can get back to work because her income is as important as his to their survival. He gets her flowers, which make her smile, but when she gets back to her job, she's subtly made to feel [unless hopefully she has enough since to ignore it] that her boss outdid her husband when he gave his wife the diamonds last week. Yes, in my weepy 1940's, Stella Dallas version of this story, ironically enough the pampered mommy is the wife of the poor mommy's boss. Okay, I way disgressed, but in my career I see this sickening since of entitlement from the affluent all the time [I'm an interior designer]. Nothing ever has value in and of itself, like the prize of a sweet-smelling little baby, so the deal needs to be sweetened with blood diamonds. Having said that, I think giving a gift, a small, thoughtful, sweet gift, cannot help but be appreciated. But it doesn't need to be costly - that somehow cheapens the whole thing. It plays into that age old thing about a rich man's wife being his socially acceptable whore. Now they're getting paid for the babies. Yuck.

the sense of entitlement that emerges from the women interviewed for this article is repellent and, at the same time, wholly unsurprising.

one woman had the brass to lobby her husband for pricey rocks with the line "I've been a good soldier." nice. the newborn not the blessed product of a loving union but an onerous burden whose delivery demands compensation. her child(ren) must feel so special.

Unfortunately just another sign of our materialistic society. Whilst it might sound contradictory, as I run a website that is all about finding great gifts for every occasion, I am thrilled that this Christmas, charity giving has been the most popular thing, and jewellery is a long way down the list. Maybe, there is hope after all.

...and then there is the global sociological issue of supporting dictatorships that enslave political opponents or "undesirable" tribes and make them work unto their death in the "blood diamond" mines....is that what we want to wear? is that what we want to support? I think not!!!

Now now, Paul - look at it this way: When he dumps her for his youthful secretary and manages to hide most of his assets when they're doing the settlement, she needs to have those diamonds to hock when she and the kids move to the two bedroom apartment and attempt to live on oh, say 1,600 a month. I worked in divorce for some years and saw this scenario often, so I say yes, here's the brat, now give me the **&&^% diamonds! :)

The NYT is infamous for women-bashing articles full of sweeping generalizations based on a handful of anecdotes from atypical rich people. I swear the reporters must be so desperate, they've been reduced to grubbing for story ideas at their weekend cocktail parties. All it takes is for two people to say something -- then it can be dubbed a "trend," hedged around with plenty of weasel words like "no one knows the size of the trend, but ..."

Not falling for it any more, NYT.

Aw, why stop at the diamond? Why not make it extra special by, say, setting it in the dried, chopped off ear or hand of a child laborer/soldier involved in the blood diamond trade? Work a little gold or platinum filigree in around the edges and Hey Presto! A really individual piece to celebrate one's own kid!

Now now, Paul - look at it this way: When he dumps her for his youthful secretary and manages to hide most of his assets when they're doing the settlement, she needs to have those diamonds to hock when she and the kids move into the two bedroom apartment and attempt to live on oh, say 1,600 a month. I worked in divorce for some years and saw this scenario often, so I say yes, here's the brat, now give me the **&&^% diamonds! :)

So because it's his kid, too, it's a 'brat', Xtina? I like where you went with it, though. Sounds like the ending to my Stella Dallas-inspired Warner Bros. pic, only this is the end they tacked on so working class people would feel sorry for the diamond push wife, maybe played by a wet-blanket diva like Miriam Hopkins or Gene Tierney. Bluck!
In any event, a marriage that relies on crap like push diamonds probably would end in divorce. I mean, you can pay to have the 'old girl' made over with a new set of headlights, even reshape and tighten up the old hood these days, but she knows you inside and out, what a prick you are, knows how embarrassing you are when you're loaded, that underneath your career successes you have the self-confidence you did when you were twelve....

I dunno,
back in my day the wife would nag me to get her pregnant.

The article helps to explain how our country has become one of corporate fascism, and greedy CEO's where life and blood are merely a price that we have to pay to have the "comforts" that any bauble loving, spoiled ego, thinks it deserves!

This Guy, David Samson, is clearly a failure. Have some cojones amigo!!!

Linden - I think you hit it perfectly. This is not a trend, it's a bizarre article made up by bored reporters in New York. Bah!

That said - I have no problem spending money on a woman, however I will NEVER BUY A DIAMOND. They are evil things. I consider it a litmus test, quite frankly. If a woman expects a diamond, she's long gone in my book. Real women don't need that crap.

Completely bereft of common sense. I have never worn jewellery nor have I ever purchased jewellery for the mother of my two children. Ever. Watch BLOOD DIAMOND and see where your money goes. Consumerist swine will ensure that another generation of poor, dark skinned and savagely conditioned third world children will have to toil for our benefit. I urge all to consider the ramifications of such a profligate society lavishing gifts to women who do the natural thing, bearing children. If you want to care for your partner and make her feel special, wash the laundry, feed and care for the baby and save your money for the child's future needs. Or, give her some paid time off after having the child in order to recover. Try making dinner or doing the shopping. Buying a bauble or two should be seen for what it really is...a cheap cop out. Let me take a wild guess...this idea came from the same place which gave us a fake Santa and a fake Easter bunny and a fake war to feel good about. New York, anyone?

Linden - I think you hit it perfectly. This is not a trend, it's a bizarre article made up by bored reporters in New York. Bah!

That said - I have no problem spending money on a woman, however I will NEVER BUY A DIAMOND. They are evil things. I consider it a litmus test, quite frankly. If a woman expects a diamond, she's long gone in my book. Real women don't need that crap.

This Guy, David Samson, is clearly a failure. Have some cojones amigo!!!