Figure skater Ando announces she is a single mother

Good for her and congrats! An even better role model than before.

I'd say she is a WORSE roll model than before. I grew up with a mom and dad and am much better off and happier for it. Life is much more fullfilled and it was nice having a dad that worked and I got to come home to my mother and then dad came home after his job. Good life. I hope She gets married and the child has a balanced life full of love from a mother and father.

It's pretty amazing that she's back skating two months after giving birth.

Thank you Ando-San for keeping your child and not choosing to abort it. all life is precious and we support you.

combinibento said: Good for her and congrats! An even better role model than before. She's a better role model eh? For what? For having a child out of wedlock?

Oh yes....Great role model for all the young girls who may look up to her but who Can't afford to raise a child on their own should they follow in Ando's footsteps!

Good on her for deciding to keep the child. I wish you the best on next year's Olympics.

According to Nikkan Sports, the baby’s father is a former Japanese figure skater but she has not talked about him yet.

Any reason why not? Are they still dating? What is his part (apart from the obvious) in all of this?

I salute her courage. If only her goals are rightly set and true then i will congratulate her for a happy helathy life with her baby. thing is, from what I've been hearing and seeing around me is that the girls nowadays just want to give birth and have babies minus the husbands. She did say she wanted to fulfill her role as a woman that's why she had a baby...,is anyone reading my mind here?

Better to have a baby out of wedlock than to have the child born into a loveless marriage. She's a professional woman who has the drive and talent to be a world class athlete...the kid could do FAR worse than having her for a single-mother. Ganbatte Ando-san!

realdoll,

So you wouldn't have any idea of how life would be if only being raised by a single parent, now do you? So you have nothing to compare with, right?

I am with combinibento on this. A young, hard working single parent can be as good a role model as any. Good luck to her and her kid.

Never heard of her. And she's gotta realize nobody cares if she is single or married. Unless she's hot.

The baby's name is ひまわり　(himawari).(sunflower). The father is most likely Y*** N****.

All the negative posts about her disgust me. All of you are so judgmental. I for one think that if she is happy then so be it. The alternative for her may have been to marry the wrong guy and be miserable or to have a abortion which isn't the best either.

This could be used as a example to fuel already single parents on to pursue their dreams while being a excellent parent.

@realdoll , you have absolutely no way of comparing your life to her or any other child raised by a single parent. But maybe you'll end up divorced and find out with and good act of Katma towards you.

Dear Peanut Gallery,

She is a good role model because she is taking personal responsibility for her actions and will make a wonderful mother. Pull your nose away from the smartphone holding your virtual life for a moment and reflect on reality.

Best.

Dear MumbaiRocks!,

Did you somehow write that post with pen and paper?

Best,

Peanut Gallery

It is a brave decision. Being a single mother may be not a best role model, but being murdered or rised by single but strong mother, which one do you think at the end is better for the child?

For those who do not know, the share of single mothers in Japan is extremely low (just few percents), and mostly those divorsed or widows. Japanese public opinion is strongly against having baby out of wedlock, and welfare system is not encouraging women's independence. May be this would be a good model for Japanese women - that they may not only pursue their career, but decide on how they can be happy "as a woman".

Way to go girl ,that can be the next President.

Yasuharu Nanri???

It seems she has a partner and plans to get married, its just not clear if he is the baby's father.

I don't know if I'd call her a role model, but she made the right decision when under pressure to have an abortion.

As a single parent (albeit not for the same reasons) since he was two, I don't think my son suffered too much - in fact, though I say so myself, I think we did much better on our own.

Father needs to step and take responsibility instead of hiding in the shadows..

Father needs to step and take responsibility instead of hiding in the shadows..

She didn't even announce the baby until 3 months later, so you can't really hate on the father for not coming out. Miki obviously wants to keep things under wraps...

Guess that's why we haven't heard from her of late. In any case, congratulations, and good luck with mother-hood. I look forward to seeing Ando in all her glory in the Winter Olympics. As for who the father is, it should be up to her if she wants to reveal it or not. I know they won't, but I hope the media will let her be.

Being a single mother is rough! Not only moral issues but kids NEED both a mother and a FATHER, I hope she can find a good husband ASAP!

You know, for once we have a very successful, courageous and confident Japanese woman who is willing and able to raise and support a child - presumably on her own but the father may be involved as well, who knows - and is no doubt going to give this kid a privileged life while at the same time saying she will continue in her profession and skate in the next Olympics. And yet there are all these negative comments about how immoral the thing is. For once, it is wonderful to see a famous Japanese woman not opt to marry her partner as a knee-jerk reaction to getting pregnant. (No doubt, if she married the father there would be cynical comments abound.) Indeed, she is rare among Japanese female household-name celebrities because she is doing her own thing. I bet she'll hear similar negative comments from some fans, but I hope she rolls her eyes and keeps on keepin' on.

Good for her! Japan really needs to update their definitions of "family" in Japan, the father wont be registered as the father on the birth certificate or registrations because she is not married. Stupid system!

Apart from any moral issues that people want to argue about, I would simply say that Ando's decision, in a tiny, incremental way, might be beneficial for the entire country. There are too many women here who can't even conceive (pun intended) of having a baby unless they have found the perfect husband with the perfect income and the perfect life support situation. Which in turn means that they hit their mid- to late 30s and suddenly find their options for starting a family severely limited. Until more women can de-link the idea of having children from marriage, as Ando has done, you will continue to see the birthrate continue down the ski slope to the very bottom.

This news made my day. Since Japanese society has conservative point of view on marriage and women athletes, her decision is a great role model. I wouldn't say it's the best way to everyone but could be one of the choice to persue each one's happiness.

I wish her well, and her baby... I have friends in Japan who are single mums and I've seen how hard it can be. Good luck to her ^_^

I agree 100% with Go Go Go. In fact, she should be able to sue the deadbeat in court too. Now, if the father does not even want to be around his own child, what more other prospective boyfriends. From reading the news, stepchildren do not fare well in Japan. A lot of the abuse cases reveal a serious problem of dysfunctional people. Best for her is to find a foreigner who will be able to adopt her child as his own. That is the truth of the matter.

Omedeto ! The article is misleading if it gives the impression the child is fatherless. It just states the parents are not technically married and are not making their life public. We discover many married-with-the-paper couples in the daily I-park-the-baby-in-front-pachinko column, no ? At the ice-rink, the kid shouldn't suffer from heatstroke.

Great role model for all the young girls who may look up to her but who Can't afford

YES. That encourages the little girls to fight so later they can afford being a breadwinner. That sounds a very ambitious objective to you ?

What does "happiness as a woman" mean?

its actually no ones business but her own!

These forums will become extremely boring extremely quickly with this way of thinking.

Figure skater Ando announces she is a single mother

Since pretty much everyone with any interest at all in the subject knows Ms. Ando is not married, I think writing that she announced she is going to be a mother would have sufficed.

By the way, to those complaining about her maritial status, there are plenty of examples of bad parenting on the part of two parent households to tell us that what kind of person the parent is is so much more important than whether they have a partner or not.

the baby’s father is a former Japanese figure skater

I did not know that I was a Japanese figure skater!

On a more serious note I am impressed that this was kept a secret until 2 months AFTER the birth.

One of the top figure skaters in the world had a baby and still plans to go to next Olympics and for all the s*** she is getting for it, 5 seconds after she is on the podium with a medal of any color, NHK will declare her mother of year and an example for all little girls to follow. Got To Love Sports.

"The baby's name is ひまわり ( Himawari / Sunflower )"

Hey, that's Shinchan's baby sister's name!

Ando made no mention of her baby’s father, but in an off camera interview, she said that she is eager to get married once “various arrangements have been made with the partner.” She also announced her plans to return performing.

-she will be retiring from skating after the 2013-14 season. "I chose life over skating. I decided to live as a woman (rather than a figure skater)," the 25-year-old explained about her decision during an interview for a TV program aired on July 1.

Where do all these people come from, telling her to get married ASAP, and are so judgmental? She is an empowered woman, one who can take care of herself AND her baby. Just because one is raised in a "traditional" family, doesn't mean other forms of families are wrong. Crawl back under that patriarchy rock you came from and let this woman lead the life chooses.

"the baby’s father is a former Japanese figure skater but she has not talked about him yet"...that'd be an interesting conversation to overhear. "Hey, remember that time you and I got together and we 'did it'...well guess what happened?"

I feel sorry for any baby denied a father (or a mother for that matter).

I hope both the father and mother in this case get together and make a happy family.

It's always better for the child.

@choiwaruoyaji.

I feel sorry for any baby denied a father (or a mother for that matter). I hope both the father and mother in this case get together and make a happy family. It's always better for the child.

Sorry to disagree - NOT always...

Good for her for keeping the baby, and I hope she marries eventually. A complete family is best for the child.

Sorry to disagree - NOT always...

Read my post again...

Or are you trying to say a happy family is not always better for the child?

Who knows if it would be better for the child or not if the parents were together?? Just because a male and a female are occupying the same house?? My parents stayed together an extra few years "for me", and I wasn't necessarily happy about it. When they said they would get separated before my 10th grade year, I said, good.

They did, and I saw my Dad weekends, lived with my mom, and things were better than before. There's all kinds of families out there.

So good luck to Miki, married or un-, mom is a big job. There goes my dream of having her virginity...

Maybe the father didn't want to marry her.. and she was past the # of weeks acceptable for abortion, so she had to keep the baby. I'm sure she would have liked to marry but something happened.

the reports so far say the man is married and that is why she is not saying so they can work things out.

So we can definitely rule out Nikolai Morozov then?

Crazedinjapan:

All the negative posts about her disgust me. All of you are so judgmental. I for one think that if she is happy then so be it. The alternative for her may have been to marry the wrong guy and be miserable or to have a abortion which isn't the best either.

Well get a load of you! If she'd chosen to have an abortion, then that's her prerogative, as long as it really was her decision. Tell me, if a woman doesn't want a child, why is an early-term abortion so bad? Are there not enough unwanted children in this world? It's all very well for some people and the Catholic church to say abortion is wrong but I don't see them all rushing to the orphanages and adopting kids (mind you, I would trust the church when kids are involved!)

would trust -> would NOT trust

Good for her.

A successful people has one thing in common. He/she makes a choice in life. Many do not understand this secret wisdom. You go girl!!

What's going on here? It's not OK to have children unless there is a Mom AND Dad. Do we want to end up like the U.S.?

A HAPPY family is what is best for a child. Whether that includes a mother AND a father, just one parent, a mother and a grandmother or two dads is not relevant. What IS relevant, the only thing that SHOULD be relevant - is that the child is raised in a safe, loving, nurturing environment.

I'd say she is a WORSE roll model than before. I grew up with a mom and dad and am much better off and happier for it. Life is much more fullfilled and it was nice having a dad that worked and I got to come home to my mother and then dad came home after his job. Good life. I hope She gets married and the child has a balanced life full of love from a mother and father.

You may have done, but not everyone did. NO father is better than a drunken abusive one, believe me.

A baby out of wedlock. Aaaaaaaand this is news because...

When stories pop up like this, and I see that Japan still finds this kind of thing remarkable, I sigh, and realise they are always going to be a bunch of old fashioned self-restricting fools.

I'm glad, she just decided to go all out and NOT be ashamed or bow down to public pressure that she should have to get married and or being a single mother is bad. This is 2013 and the world is changing, NOT everyone is into marriage of wants to be or whatever the reason is, this is a democratic country and people and women have the right to live the way they want to, married or not. She looks happy, healthy, baby is healthy and that's all that matters, she's out there performing so quickly after giving birth, the public should rejoice and praiser her for being a mom, withhold ANY negative judgments about HER private life and support her as an athlete. How she raises her child is her business and hers ONLY. Good for her. Hope societal attitudes change about these issues in the future.

bass4funk Jul. 03, 2013 - 05:44AM JST This is 2013 and the world is changing, NOT everyone is into marriage of wants to be or whatever the reason is, this is a democratic country and people and women have the right to live the way they want to, married or not.

It's fine for upper class wome like Ando who can make it on their own but toxic to those who have difficulty. We still need to value marriage more and make it the ideal for child bearing and raising. You have to remember that most women do not have the financial resources to be mothers on their own like she. This kind of attitude for society and all mothers, especially on the poorer side can be devasting to them and their children. In the U.S., over 1 million babies are born annually without insurance, and there are many teens or unwed mothers who has no insurance. Guess who pays for them?

I'm very glad for her. I bet it was a big decision for an athlet like her...and it is not easy to get in a way like being a mother. Congratulations to Miki-san, hope she will have an happy future :)

“I made the decision to have the baby because I wanted to pursue my happiness as a woman,”

I heard it on TV this morning as she chose life over being an athlete. If so, all the best. Well, even if not, all the best anyway. As for the father, lets not try to impose values on this situation - if he wants to be there it will be more of a success than if he doesn't - the latter a more or less guaranteed slippery slope to misery for everyone.

Miki obviously wants to keep things under wraps...

A little late for that!

Nothing wrong with being a single parent if you can afford to be, which she can. She is a role model for every famous wealthy Olympic contender who wants a child. For the average Japanese, it's not as clear.

Nothing wrong with being a single parent if you can afford to be, which she can.

I know she isn't poor and gets sponsorships, but most of her "wealth" is pumped back into her sport with fees for training, trainers, hotels, transport, etc. Her sport is still an amateur one as far as I can make out with prize money fairly limited. Now she will have childcare fees to add, and the worry of not always being there for her child, unless she is going to bring everywhere with her, which in itself, could be a full time job! It is probably less clear, but good luck to both of them.

In U.S., England, or France, close to half of the birth are outside of marriage. But not in Japan, it's around two per cent. Still having babies outside marriage is still considered quite wrong. The Japanese are much less bothered about abortions and half of all pregnancies in Japan end in an abortion. The Japanese believe that parents, especially the mother are of great importance in making sure the child does well at school which result in good job. If a young unmarried woman in Japan gets pregnant, she will either get married or she will abort the child.

I wonder if the child is skating already.

Dear Ms. Ando, Congratulations on the birth of your daughter and best wishes to you both as you go forward!

In two places about this. I am very, very glad she didn't go the whole "shotgun" wedding way like so many others but at the same time, she's a 25 year old educated woman. At 25 you know about birth control, more so when you body is your meal ticket,

I wish her and her baby luck and I hope the guy is doing the right thing and at least supporting her be it with money and time or just money.

Ms Ando is sure to have a most beautiful child that will grow up to be as talented as her mother!

@choiwaruoyaji

Or are you trying to say a happy family is not always better for the child?

No, I'm just being realistic - "happy families" are far and few between...

@pukey it is a woman's choice to have a abortion if she so chooses, it's her body. If you read what I said it says its not all that great of a choice from my point of view and many others . Church nor religion has no place in this article so best not do comparatives in regards to that. I'm neither anti abortion or pro abortion . It's ultimately a woman's choice . I am happy she embraced being a mother whether the kids father is in the picture or not.

As far as unwanted children go, there are plenti of people who get tied up in red tape who would love to adopt these children but give up because of restrictions to cross border adoption rules or the difficulties in acquiring legal services to adopt

I think that a happy family with a mum and dad is absolutely the best situation for a child.

I think the trend towards single-parent families in modern society is a real pity for the kids.

I think most kids, if given the choice, would opt for having both a mum and dad.

But of course they have no choice in the matter.

I'm not blaming women for the current situation (single parent families becoming the norm).

Men are equally or even more to blame.

But to me, it's just a real shame that so many children can't experience family life with two parents.

ando and her partner are living together, they just did not get married yet. whats all the fuss?

The nuclear family fundamentalists are out in force on this thread.

I wonder if any of them are locked into marriages that they don't want to be in, but tell themselves they are remaining "for the kids" sakes.

You can't tell what's best. As I said, my parents being apart was better than them being together "for my sake". Many people seem to think money is necessary for happiness, and I suppose having it is more desirable than not, but if you are in a loveless marriage for money, and tell yourself it is for the kids, I can assure you no good will come of it.

I went to private school with many very very rich classmates (one is currently a king), most of them had all the money, most had married parents, but so many of them were just loveless. And the kids knew it and hated it, and hated their parents. Some acted out, but many put on the "good" face and their parents would never know that the kids looked down on them for their dishonesty and lack of love.

What's up with Miki, I will never know. She's driven and successful, and she chose to have her kid when she didn't have to. So I guess she will probably love her child and be able to give them a lot.

It's fine for upper class wome like Ando who can make it on their own but toxic to those who have difficulty. We still need to value marriage more and make it the ideal for child bearing and raising. You have to remember that most women do not have the financial resources to be mothers on their own like she.

And the solution to that is to provide women a chance to find a job that pays enough, that allows for women to balance childcare with a career. Not to marry them off. If you want to bring in the discussion of "values", let's start by including the fathers who remain absent. It takes two to tango, and it wouldn't be fair to write this off as a single mom issue. It's a societal issue where the responsibility to have and raise children falls on the shoulders of women in this country, while the men should be equally responsible for having put a child on earth. If you don't "value" a child, wear a rubber.

@Cos: Nothing wrong with being Ambitious. But I don't think glorifying how great it is to have kids out of wedlock does anyone any good.

Single mothers who have single motherhood thrust upon them, through divorce, abandonment, death of the husband, etc.....I feel for them.

But someone who choses one day to have a child out of wedlock just for the sake of having a kid.....sorry my value system can't accept that.

If having a baby wasn't in her plans, then as a so called 'modern and independent woman' she should have taken precautionary measures and made sure the guy she took a roll in the hay with did too. Nowadays a combination of a condom and birth control pills is virtually 100% effective in preventing unwanted pregnancies.

chronic-

that's unfortunate that it doesn't jive with your morals, but I don't think she's glorifying anything. In fact she managed to keep the pregnancy secret and then the birth until three months later. Which is quite a fete for a national hero. She just wants to raise her kid.

as for pregnancy, not our business anyway, but some methods may be better than others, but nothing is 100%. "Virtually 100%" means some pregnancies will happen.

But why does she or I or anyone else need acceptance from your value system? And who needs your pity for the "poor women having single motherhood thrust on them"? A lot of women I know would get pi$%ed off by that to tell you the truth.

Lowly said: But why does she or I or anyone else need acceptance from your value system? And who needs your pity for the "poor women having single motherhood thrust on them"? A lot of women I know would get pi$%ed off by that to tell you the truth.

.......................................... Firstly...I didn't say pity. I said I feel for them. Meaning I have compassion / sympathy for the hardships they face / will face, and respect for them for having the wherewithal to go it alone. Big difference between that and pity.

Secondly, I didn't say that she or anyone needs to accept the way I see the world or my value system. I said, according to my value system her behavior is questionable but she can do whatever she wants.

But I'm not going to pat her on the back for doing something I find morally wrong and I stated as such.

But someone who choses one day to have a child out of wedlock just for the sake of having a kid.....sorry my value system can't accept that.

You could live in some religious dictatorship where your value system is a law. How shocking that she doesn't get married and makes brats because some priest told her "You must marry and you must procreate..." ? She has a child because she wants a child, she loves taking care of a child ( she was seen with her ex's son a lot). And now, she wants to raise one, and she can afford doing it.

Single mothers

She is not a single mother. It's your value system that needs to label people that way. She is a mother totally happy to be a mother. With two good-looking and great skaters as parents (living together or not), the little girl is a future skating champion maybe, but I'm sure they tell her she can be whatever she wants... You imagine some despair that does not exist. Keep your pity for the woman that is forced by financial circumstances to stay married and do the maid for a loser that despises her and that has no interest in his kids with whom he painfully spends a few minutes per week.

Go Miki Ando! Follow your dreams.

@Cos: Have IQ's dropped on this board???? Where did I say I pity someone??? Where did I say that other people need to follow my value system????

Single mother: Did you even read the story??? The story labelled Ando as a single mother NOT me. It's written in plain English in the article's title.

Read the article and my posts before you start flapping your gums and accusing me of this or that.

And sorry I disagree with people having children outside of the bonds of marriage. Whether you agree or not has no bearing on how I live my life.

Enough said.

sorry chronic, but this

Single mothers who have single motherhood thrust upon them, through divorce, abandonment, death of the husband, etc.....I feel for them.

in the context of the other stuff you were saying, does sound more than a little patronizing.

everyone has their own path in life. your value system is only relevant to how you want to live your own life, and it didn't sound like your were saying just "I don't want to have kids out of wedlock", but that you were putting down others who did. that's how it came across.

@choiwaruoyaji having a 2 parent family is NOT a gaurantee for a happy childhood. if the parents do not love each other it affects the child too. especially if the parents fight all the time.and contrary to popular belief very few women even in america, CHOOSE to be single parents. most woman think their man will be there for them. unfortunately many find out they were just a booty call after the fact.the ones that do choose to be single mothers are usually professional career women whose biological clock is ticketing. the rest is just negligence on the part of the parents. but regardless of why she is a single mother, she should be supported for taking responsibility for her actions and raising her child.too many young women use abortion as a form of birth control, and later when they are ready to have children are unable to do so because of the damage caused from having abortions. in my own case my teenage parents had a shotgun marriage. and for 25 years everybody was unhappy. but because my grandparents were super religous divorce was not an option. it wasn't until we kids were grown and my grandparents dead, that my parents finally divorced. we are all happier. there is no more fighting, and the house is peaceful.

@rydangel

having a 2 parent family is NOT a gaurantee for a happy childhood.

I didn't say it was.

I don't think you've understood my post.

Try and read it again.

I said:

"a happy family with a mum and dad is absolutely the best situation for a child."

Father needs to step and take responsibility instead of hiding in the shadows..

And why don't you just mind your own business.

The important thing here is that she make her own choice about bring the baby to term. She was not told to do by the uptight holier than thou fundamentalists like in the US in many states. It is a personal matter plain and simple up to 24 weeks or so.

Lots of single parents out there for many reasons, it does no good for you uptight holy roller to shame others because they do not meet your fairy tail illusions. This just in, not all families are the same. Get over it.