Children born between the 1950s and the 1960s were called the baby boomer generation. Many women became pregnant soon after marriage, and those who became pregnant before marriage were required to marry the other parent. Families were large, most with an average of four to five children. While children were expected and often an exciting part of marriage, the sexual component of a healthy marriage often worried young wives. Without a reliable form of birth control, women faced three decades of childbearing before menopause. In the late 1950s, the pill came onto the market. This was a big step forward for women, as couples could now decide when they wanted to start a family. For many women, pregnancy was not a welcome gift, it was an emotional blow that caused stress to their marriage and personal well-being. Specialized health care is not available to women, with family doctors being the primary doctors. Abortion was a very difficult operation to find, because abortion is illegal. Sometimes women could find a friendly doctor who would perform one. They were often called therapeutic abortions or were performed because doctors decided women would die during this time.