The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is blaming barriers to high-quality prenatal care and systemic racism for the alarming 30 percent increase in newborn syphilis cases in the past year‚ but the real cause is much more complex than it is willing to admit. The problem is bigger than anyone realizes. In some parts of the country — like Mississippi — congenital syphilis cases have risen 900 percent over the past five years. In just the past year‚ syphilis rates in the general population increased by 17 percent. There has been an especially alarming 80 percent in the rates of syphilis in the past five years. Although Black Americans comprised about 30 percent of primary and secondary syphilis cases with a rate of 67 cases per 100‚000‚ gay men and other men who have sex with men have the highest rates. The CDC reports that “even though gay‚ bisexual and other men who have sex with men (MSM) account for only 4 percent of the United States male population‚ they account for more than one-third of reported syphilis cases.  Men who have sex with men remain disproportionately affected by syphilis.” Rather than blaming the degraded culture that is increasingly promoting sexual behaviors that were once considered taboo‚ and the growing acceptance of polyamorous relationships and non-monogamous marriages in both the heterosexual and the homosexual communities‚ the CDC and mainstream media continue to look for the “easy answers.” Publicly identifying the real causes for this surge is not acceptable in a culture that refuses to judge the sexual behavior of others — no matter how depraved. In 2012 — just a decade ago — even the New York Times was willing to admit that men who have sex with men‚ and then have sex with women are putting both women and their unborn children at risk. The Times reported on a collaborative study in Uganda by the CDC and Makerere University School of Public Health‚ which found that of 306 male respondents who reported having engaged in sex with men in the three months before the survey‚ 51 percent had been or were currently married to women. Sixteen percent of these men were living with and having sex with female sex partners during the period they were engaging in sexual behavior with men. Twenty-nine percent had fathered children. Seventy percent said they were attracted to mostly/only men — but many of them still engage in sexual relations with women. The Times was careful to indicate that Ugandans demonstrate a “much higher incidence of bisexual behavior than occurs among men who have sex with other men in this country.” That may not be true today. Syphilis Among Children Unborn children are the fastest-growing cohort in this surge in syphilis. Congenital syphilis occurs when an infected mother passes the infection to her baby during pregnancy. It can cause miscarriage‚ stillbirth‚ prematurity‚ low birth weight‚ or death shortly after birth. Babies born to infected women can have deformed bones‚ severe anemia‚ and brain and nerve problems like blindness or deafness among other birth defects. As the syphilis rate has risen dramatically in the past year‚ we can predict an exponential increase in newborn syphilis rates especially as there is a growing acceptance in our culture for non-monogamous relationships and marriages. Polyamory was once the practice of bizarre cults on the fringes of society like the Children of God whose members believed that since sex was a “gift from God‚” there should be no limits‚ regardless of age or relationship; or the Oneida community of the 1840s whose communism “included all property of family living and associations” resulting in “complex marriage” in which any member was free to have sex with any other member who agreed. Today’s polyamory‚ also referred to as “consensual non-monogamy‚” has emerged in some of the trendiest neighborhoods in the country. Even the once-conservative HGTV House Hunters show promoted the concept of the “throuple” — a man and two women in a romantic relationship in an episode called “Threes Not a Crowd in Colorado Springs.” The televised threesome is searching for a home with a “very large master bed” and three sinks in the master bathroom. Likewise‚ the New Yorker’s December issue asked: “How Did Polyamory Become so Popular?” and described how consensual non-monogamy is now part of the culture of marriages in the posh Park Slope neighborhood in Brooklyn‚ N.Y. and “prestige television.” Experimenting With Polyamory According to a 2023 Pew Research study‚ about half of all Americans say open marriages — a marriage where both spouses agree that they can date or have sex with other people — are somewhat or completely unacceptable. However‚ 36 percent of all men and 30 percent of all women claim that having an open marriage is acceptable to them. These data vary by sexual orientation. While 29 percent of heterosexual individuals indicate that an open marriage is acceptable‚ 75 percent of gay‚ lesbian‚ or bisexual individuals find open marriage to be acceptable. Not surprisingly‚ those who describe themselves as Democrats are much more likely to endorse open marriages. Only 20 of Republicans or “lean Republican” claim to endorse open marriages while more than twice as many Democrats or “lean Democratic” (47 percent) claim to endorse open marriage.  Pew concludes: “As may be expected‚ conservative Republicans are the most likely to say these marriages are unacceptable (74%)‚ while liberal Democrats are the most likely to say they are acceptable (63%).” What is most worrisome is that 51 percent of all adults younger than 30 told interviewers that open marriage was “acceptable‚” and 20 percent of all Americans report experimenting with some form of non-monogamy. A growing number of elite celebrities‚ like Will Smith and his wife Jada Pinkett Smith‚ are public — and self-congratulatory — about their open marriage.  Last year‚ Time magazine featured the open marriage of former New York City Mayor Bill DeBlasio‚ a Park Slope resident‚ in an article titled: “Does it Really Work to Date Within a Marriage? Bill DeBlasio and Chirlaine McCray Are About to Find Out.” Despite the celebratory headlines in favor of polyamory and non-monogamous relationships published in the past year in Vanity Fair‚ New York Magazine the New York Times‚ and other sites‚ it should be acknowledged that many of these non-monogamous marriages end badly. In 2019‚ former U. S. Representative Katie Porter (CA-D) had to resign her congressional seat when her “throuple” with her then-husband and a female campaign staffer became public. The scandal resulted in her divorce and very public humiliation when her husband shared photos with the media of the throuple engaging in drug abuse and other deviant behaviors. It should surprise no one that these non-monogamous marriages and polyamorous bisexual relationships often end badly. The dramatic increase in syphilis — especially congenital syphilis — should be a reminder that engaging in deviant sexual practices and polyamorous relationships still carries a high price no matter how glamorous it may be presented by the media. The post Kids Don’t Get Syphilis In a Healthy Society appeared first on The American Spectator | USA News and Politics.