But why, why, why, if you’d done all that studying and thinking, was the only possibility in your mind that the kids would have his last name? Not saying they should or shouldn’t—but you start from a place of wanting to avoid legal complications, which suggests that the only possibility that ever occurred to you was…

What always surprises me is when women keep their own last name—indicating they put some thought into the decision—but then put absolutely no thought into the kids’ names. When women say, “oh, I changed it because I wanted the whole family to have the same name,” I think, you gave it that much thought and the idea of…

You don’t really have to look after their feelings on this, though.