A question: Assuming the situation once again becomes favorable to males for marriage, would you ever consider marrying a widow who already had a child for the purpose of having additional children and raising the child, or if you can't have children for the purpose of raising her son as your own?
I have no interest in single mothers, but widows and their children are a case worth considering, even if to reject; so, I pose this question to you as well.
@DoubleD
If you make an exception to widows, then all women will simply lie and say all the kids' fathers are dead. They will do what they must to survive.
Societies already solved this problem by having their combined families (fathers and brothers) take care of the widow and their kids.
There truly is no reason to marry a single mother unless you're a low level simp who is used to being shunned/reject by everyone.
@Zeb It is a good point that she could just lie, and it becomes more of a risk the less access you have to family records.