Why I don't have a child: society isn't built for motherhood

In almost every area of life, people are undermined and exploited. It’s not unreasonable for someone to decide they simply can’t provide for a new life

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I was 31 the last time I got pregnant. And after a lifetime of certainty that I did not want to be a mother, I felt an unexpected thing, cutting through the panic and the nausea: happiness.

Every morning since an intuitive nudge sent me to fetch a pregnancy test from the drugstore, my breasts oddly sore and my stomach in a low-level but constant state of turbulence, I would wake up with the thought: “I can do this. I want to do this.”

Related: Why I don't have a child: I cherish my freedom

It was the child, my child, I was trying to protect by ushering it out of this world

Every pregnancy is a crisis. Like all crises, they are best managed as a team and not on your own

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from Children | The Guardian https://ift.tt/2ZgSI0V