“The new view of marriage is reflected in the findings of a 2007 survey by the Pew Research Center. Throughout history and across different societies children have been pivotal to the prevailing conception of marriage. Yet when respondants to the Pew survey were provided with a list of items and asked to identify which were "very important " to a successful marriage, they ranked children near the bottom of the list. Practically every other consideration-- shared religious beliefs, shared interests, a happy sexual relationship-- ranked more important than children.”