How to pronounce "maternity"

Women are not only supposed to have children,

they are supposed to want to.

This existed everywhere. It existed  in the ways that adults spoke to me

when they posed questions in the context of

"When you get married ..."

"When you have kids ..."

"Don't you want a family?"

A value that I have always understood about myself was that

I never wanted children.

It's so easy to forget the roles that society places on us

are so much more than mere titles.

What about the weight that comes with them,

the pressure to conform to these standards

... the fear associated with questioning them,

and the desires that we cast aside to accept them?

Your choice to embrace or forego motherhood

is not in any way tied to your  worthiness or identity

as spouses, as adults, or as women ...

and there absolutely is a choice behind maternity,

and it is yours and yours alone.