My Mother-In-Law Pressured Me to Have a Baby and Almost Broke Me

I’ve known since I was six years old that I don’t want children.

My choice to not have children is not an attack on anyone’s choice to have them. It really is no big deal, but it became a big deal for a few years of my life.

You see, despite my stance on not having children, my mother-in-law (now ex) begged me to have a baby.

“Just one; you don’t have to have lots. I’m begging you, just one baby, for me!”

Ten years on, and the memory of these words still causes me to prickle.

Sadly, it is all too common for women to feel pressured into having children whether they want them or not. And yes, women experience this pressure more than men do.

Intrusive pressure, judgment and stigma are reasons why I have positioned myself as a childfree (and childless) advocate.

My then-boyfriend had no siblings, and was her only hope for grandchildren. And so, by default, I was her only hope.

And the pressure was intense.

Her desperation for grandchildren was obsessive and fanatical. Every time I saw her, there were comments.