I Went to the L.A. County Courthouse and All I Got Was This Marriage License

An hour's drive through rush hour downtown traffic, one breakfast in a courthouse cafeteria, one walk through a metal detector, and an hour's wait and....we have a license to wed! (Is it dumb that I freaked out about posting personal info on the web and so blacked it all out??)


Included in the packet of material they gave us as we left was this helpful booklet: "Your Future Together...Health Information You Need to Know (previously titled: If There Are Children in Your Future)." It covers such topics as "Living a Healthy Lifestyle," how to et tested for HIV, and "What is Domestic Violence?" Then there's a section on planning for pregnancy, like taking multivitamins and--evidently--eating yogurt. (Did Yoplait fund this?)

But perhaps the most disturbing part was the chapter on all the horrible genetic and birth defects your baby might have (and, yes, it does address the issue of having babies with your cousin). Oddly enough, this picture of an unusually ecstatic-looking new father appeared on the same page as the descriptions of primary congenital hypothyroidism, congenital adrenal hyperplasia, and sickle cell disease.