I’m going to have to putz out on both of those questions. Sorry. Seems to me that Alexander lived with his grandparents for a long time before we met him, and I’m not sure either of these questions was ever explicitly addressed on the show.
IIRC, Jack Crusher died on an away mission that Picard either led or ordered him to.
Alex’s mommy was killed by Duras(?) and then Worf killed him.
Good times.
They lifted plot complications from Gilligan’s Island???
Good Heavens.
Obviously it’s not ideal to have kids on a starship, but what are the alternatives? Forced sterilizations? Is the new family forced off the ship when a child is born? Just the mother? (“Don’t worry about me honey; I just downloaded ‘Masturbation for Dummies’). Celibacy? (Worked well for the Catholic church).
Especially one that gets attacked and/or invaded by hostile aliens, battered by spatial anomolies, threatened by destructive holodeck malfunctions, infected with bizarre diseases and viruses of both the organic and computer-based varieties and just generally trashed, bashed, knocked around and kicked to hell on what seems like a weekly basis.
Where the hell are Federation Social Services at? This is obviously a hostile environment these kids are living in!
Where do you think they got the idea for ST: Voyager from?
Oh, I don’t know, you can always throw them into the antimatter/matter converter when you need emergency fuel.
Hmmmmm, this is how they could have gotten rid of Wesley in the first season.
In the modern military, female personnel are known to get pregnant from time to time. That doesn’t invalidate them for service, but it doesn’t mean they get to raise their babies aboard aircraft carriers, either. Given the allegedly advance medicine in the universe of Star Trek, I’d assume nobody reproduces unless they want to.
Including mine. 
Rilchiam, click on the following link and you’ll get it.
http://www.umc.org/churchlibrary/discipline/history/roots.htm
:smack:
Thank you!
:smack: indeed.
I don’t know if I’m slow or what, but I read through that entire brief history of the Methodist Church twice before I finally got it, at which point I literally fell off my chair laughing.
I just love corny puns.
I’m glad I’m not the only one who had that reaction. Actually, it was better once they started putting him into a regular Starfleet uniform - the “casual” outfits he was wearing before then were even worse. And it wasn’t just Wesley Crusher - I often had the uncomfortable feeling that someone connected with casting and/or costuming for ST:TNG had an eye for the boys.