Wow, this is everything I've felt was missing (most everything else is covered by other mods)! I can't wait for the A17/Steam release so I can play it!
As for the Tynan question, I'd guess that he probably sees other aspects of the game as better/higher value places to focus his work on. Working on this (especially if mods are going to take care of it anyway) is complex, doesn't appeal to everyone, and could bog him down for a while when he could be focusing on other, more straightforward issues and features. I'm sure the morality concerns ("do I let colonists butcher kids?", "When should kids be able to start relationships?", etc.) also make this an issue he'd happily leave to modders for the time being, especially after that weird issue with RPS a while back.
As for the Tynan question, I'd guess that he probably sees other aspects of the game as better/higher value places to focus his work on. Working on this (especially if mods are going to take care of it anyway) is complex, doesn't appeal to everyone, and could bog him down for a while when he could be focusing on other, more straightforward issues and features. I'm sure the morality concerns ("do I let colonists butcher kids?", "When should kids be able to start relationships?", etc.) also make this an issue he'd happily leave to modders for the time being, especially after that weird issue with RPS a while back.