I firmly believe that a woman should be capable enough of taking decisions relating to her body, whether it is related to having a child or aborting it. But so is not the case in our country. Once a woman gets married, she is dwelled with the constant pressure of having kids. Childless married women are often ridiculed with comments like ‘how can you not want to have kids’, ‘why are you being so selfish?’, ‘think about your future’.
I have a lot of admiration and awe for the amount of work it takes for a woman to raise her children. The physical, emotional and mental strength and mettle that go towards conceiving a child, being pregnant, and then living through the sleepless nights, growing pains, etc. I have nothing but respect for them. But you can’t call a woman selfish if she decides not to go through any of this. If she decides not to be a mother. If a woman is contented with her marriage without a child, doesn’t mean that ‘her family is incomplete’. Yes, childless married women are caught up with such comments too- ‘don’t you want to have a family of your own’. Does that even make any sense? Motherhood is wonderful for those who choose it. However, some women just don’t feel the need to fill their life with a kid, and that’s okay. Just like having multiple kids is okay, adopting a kid is okay, aborting a child and having pets as children is okay. What is not okay is, judging women for something we have little and no knowledge about and something that has nothing to do with our own life.