Should motherhood be a choice?
Of course, it is yes. It should be the choice of a woman who carries the baby. She is the one, on whom most of the parenting responsibilities are imposed not only by the society but also by her spouse.
I could see some issues about motherhood in my own family. My sister got married 2 years ago. They have planned to have a baby after some years. And I notice a thing a year after her first anniversary, she hesitates to attend any of the family functions. When I asked her about that, she opens up her heart. She said to me that whenever she attends a function, the relatives ask her about the baby. They did not ask about the baby to her spouse. This let me think more about being a mother. Who are they to interfere in the personnel life of my sister? Why do they concern about her? Dont her spouse plays an equal role in the parenting? Dont he gets promoted as a father?
In this society, there is a basic norm that when a woman gets married, she should have a baby within a year of her marriage. If she neglects that, whether she is given a title ‘selfish woman’ or given a lot of advices on visiting fertility centers. In this patriarchal society, a woman is neither given a choice nor asked for an opinion. Why? Why didn’t anyone question it before? Why didn’t anyone just stop for a moment and think whether motherhood is really their cup of tea? Do we not minimize the importance of a woman’s career by this? Don’t we just assume that all mothers can conceive and not even consider whether they want to? Are we not reinforcing the stereotypes by asking the woman and not the man?
I end up by saying that, motherhood should be the decision of the woman who carries the baby. Its her womb, its her responsibility and it should be her decision. If a woman wanted a baby, let her or whether she wants the baby later, let her or whether she never wants a baby, let her decide. Don`t push her.