What are the laws to procreate where you live? (NSFW)

I think in California all participants have to be at least 18, and I don’t think there’s any waiver for age proximity.

However, I could be wrong on both.

It’s 18 however I’d argue that the appropriate age should be 21. 18 year olds are rarely mature, financially sound, or can take care of themselves independently let alone take care of a baby.

17 is age of consent in New York state. (If the underage woman is applying for public assistance I’d add mandatory paternity testing and identification of the father before it is approved. The father can either be charged with the offense or can assist with the payments. It takes two.)

The age of consent in PA is 16, but 13, 14, and 15 year olds may have sex with someone as long as they are no more than 4 years older than them as well. If the person is 12 or younger, it’s considered rape (regardless of the circumstances) according to PA law.

@raven860 Why should the government run peoples lives so strictly? If someone wants to have sex, let them have sex. Who are we to say that someone is not old enough or not mature enough? It makes me angry when people say things like what you said. It is the reason why we are slowly losing every single one of our rights.

In NJ 16 is age of consent but they cant be more than 4 years older then them. Then at 18 it doesnt matter anymore. Not sure what the deal is with younger that 16 here.

@Afos22 Because 14 year olds do not understand what the fuck they are doing, and 30 year olds do. That is why having laws with a 4 year age difference rule, protects the teenagers from being brought up on charges, but does not protect the 30 year old pediphile. It makes sense to me.

@JLeslie I wasn’t really referring to 14 year olds. They probably don’t know what they are doing, I agree. And at the same time, a lot of 30 year olds don’t know what they’re doing. But, I am saying that it should not be up to the government to determine who can or can not take part in sexual activities for say someone over 17, as Raven was suggesting. I was pretty much venting about people suggesting that the government should run adult/young adult lives, and take more rights away.

The age of consent in Michigan is 16, unless one person is an authority figure over the other (ie.a teacher), in which case it is 18.

@Afos22 Well, the law is 18 at the oldest for all states regarding that as far as I know, so your wish is only off by a year maybe in some states.

“Sexual contact with another person who is under 14 years of age and the person performing the sexual contact is four or more years older than the victim; or

(4) A sexual act with another person who is 14 or 15 years of age and the person performing the sexual act is at least 21 years of age; or

(5) Vaginal intercourse with another person who is 14 or 15 years of age and the person performing the act is at least 21 years of age.”

Age of Consent

There are laws governing procreation? No wonder Ivana dumped me.

Here where I live you must take her on a date first…preferably a sit down dinner.

Just thought I’d throw this in there (although it’s not got to do with procreation, per se): in Canada, anal sex is a crime, unless it takes place between a husband and wife, or any two consenting adults over 18.

So the Canadian age of consent (16, with two “close in age” exemptions: A youth of twelve or thirteen can consent to sexual activity with an individual less than two years older than them. A fourteen- or fifteen-year-old can consent to sexual activity with a partner who is less than five years older than them. From here) applies only to sexual acts other than anal intercourse, it seems.

It’s also interesting that, until 2008, the age of consent in Canada was 14 (also from the Wiki page).

I’m just curious why you said procreate in the question?

@Adirondackwannabe I was curious about that too. Maybe the OP was afraid to write sex in the question so it was safe for work? Really the laws have nothing to do with procreating, not directly anyway.

@Afos22

Well, I am not some agent of a government trying to take more rights from its citizens as you state it. The question was about procreation and I would not want a baby’s future decided by 18 year olds as most are heading out into the world for the first time by themselves. Even if we raise the age to 21 I doubt it will stop minors from having sex. I mean it still happens when the consent age is 18. Teen pregnancy is all too common and I think there is certain group of girls who purposefully get pregnant to get on a show named something like “Teen Mom”...just so that they can be on TV and become public figures and they are all underage.

When I responded to this question, the only thing I kept in mind was the baby. It is a question about procreation after all and I feel the one person it concerns the most to is the baby. Having a parent too young (around 18) would be devastating for the baby as the parent in most cases would not be able to provide adequate support for the baby. 21 is a decent age to be a parent as by then most adolescents have been on their own and have the ability to stand on their feet either through college education & a job or through job experience in the industry. They have had a chance of at-least 4 years to build a foundation for themselves. Also its not healthy for 18 year olds to be parents, they have a lot of time ahead of themselves and they don’t immediately need to become parents…they should enjoy themselves instead.

Having sex and procreation are two different things and as far as procreation goes 21 year old parents would do a lot better than 18 year olds on an average.

@raven860 I think you should reread the full question here. It is obvious that the asker did not mean “procreate” judging by the entirety of the question.

And what do you mean 4 years to build a foundation?

@raven860 With your logic you might want to raise the age to 22 in the US. Bachelor level college degrees are 4 years, and so the majority of people when they graduate are 22. Meanwhile, I don’t think there are any laws regarding procreating specifically. I have never heard of one. How can the government say to a mother she cannot keep her baby? Barring any abuse or neglect of course. There are people married and starting their adult life at 18 and 19, I don’t see how we can tell them they have to wait, punishable by law, to have a baby.

As @worriedguy said, age of consent is 17 here, dropped from 18 a few years ago I believe. I wish we had that “close in age” clause, that’s cool. I think it’s ridiculous that a 17 year old kid can get labeled as a sex offender if he has sex with his 16 year old girlfriend. I wonder, though, in those cases where it’s not consentual, if that “close in age” clause makes it more difficult for the victim to successfully press charges? If an 18 year old rapes a 15 year old here, for example, they’d at least get charged with statutory rape even if the full rape charge didn’t go through (as it so often doesn’t).

@Adirondackwannabe and @JLeslie Yes, because it’s recently been said that the word sex in fact in itself NSFW, and questions have been modded. In here though, we can say sex all we want. SEX!SEX!SEX!SEX!SEX!SEX!SEX!SEX!SEX!SEX!SEX!SEX!SEX!SEX!SEX!SEX!SEX!SEX!SEX!SEX!

@XOIIO Okay now I get it. Let’s hear it for SEX!

@JLeslie

I miscalculated it should be 22, I live in the U.S also.
I think the classical definition of “Age of consent” is the age below which all individuals below a certain age are barred off all sexual activities. link:http://www.avert.org/age-consent.htm

I researched this for California (where I live) and found this link: http://www.ageofconsent.com/california.htm

There are some interesting statistics towards the bottom

Age of consent in California does not bar minors from sexual activity with peers from what I could tell.

Anyway,
I don’t know if it should be a law or not regarding procreation specifically…I wouldn’t want it to be but 18 year olds are too young to be parents in my opinion…although some are and fewer do a good job at it. The question asker asked about sex which I don’t care about…18 is fine. To be a parent however one needs to be more responsible.

Procreation laws do exist in other societies such as China where because of the population boom adults are only legally allowed to have one child in some places. link:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One-child_policy

@Afos22 What I mean by “4 years to build a foundation” is that within four years there is a reasonable chance that an adolescent has matured and seen the “real world” and has proven he can handle responsibility. The person has also had a chance to earn and save up some money if possible. Basically he has been able to make it on his/her own.

Most importantly, most BA degrees in the U.S are 4 year programs. Most students can apply for such programs after highschool that is after they turn 18.

@raven860 I cannot see the US every going along with it. First, I am pretty sure the majority of our population does not have a college degree, I don’t actually know the statistic. Second, we are not China, most Americans would find that type of law too intrusive in an individuals life. I realize you stated you are not actually looking to have a law, but just stating how you feel about young people have children. I don’t think anyone thinks it is a good idea to have a baby while still in high school.

I think teen pregnancy is one of the biggest contributors to poverty, and just in general children having poor guidance. So, believe me you are talking to the choir about teen pregnancy, although I disagree about over 18, just like I think the drinking age should be 18. Once a person is legally an adult in the eyes of the law, then they are.

@XOIIO Well now, that’s insane. Someone should ask a question about whether the word sex is NSFW =)