Baby boom may follow terrorist attacks.

• Position: Your Life - Brief Article

In response to the events of Sept. 11, look for more marriages to take place in 2002 and a "baby boom" of some size in the summer of 2002, predicts Nick Stinnett, professor of marriage and family studies, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa. "There probably will be a baby `boomlet' of some size in the summer of 2002--late June and into July," he says, and this can be directly correlated to the tragic events.

"In times of stress and crises, people often draw closer to one another for comfort and consolation--as an antidote to uncertainty and loneliness," he explains. "And in couple relationships, that drawing closer may involve sexual activity and consequently the...