Transcript

I don't want children. I don't want to undergo a pregnancy, and I don't want to adopt. The happiest future I can see for myself is one without children.

Age 14

You know, when I was your age, I felt the same way. But when you meet the right person, and you're at the right stage of your life, your perspective starts to shift, you know?

Age 18

It's easy to feel like you know what you want out of life when you're so young. It's too early for you to be so certain about how the rest of your life could go? All I'm saying is don't close any doors. Anything could happen!

Age 22

It's a little early yet, but pretty soon you're going to start looking around at the families around you and feeling like something's missing. Your maternal side will come out and you'll need to spend all that nurturing energy somewhere! You're far too young to know for certain what you'll want in the future. Anyways, what will happen when you end up with a man who really wants children?

Age 26

Having a child really focuses you away from the self, centres you around something bigger than yourself. It's truly the greatest act of creation! I know you think you know how you'll feel in 5 years, but you know. in a few years a little 'accident' could be just the thing to change your mind!

Age 29

It's hard to describe the joy and harmony that children can bring to your life. It just completes you in a way that nothing else could. Wait a few years, people often find that there's only so much a career alone can offer in terms of fulfillment. I wouldn't sound so certain yet, if I were you. Your biological clock is really going to start ticking soon, so remember, it's always ok to change your mind! But don't wait too long!

Age 104

So don't rule anything out by making drastic decisions. Who knows how you'll feel in a few years?

Certainty

Posted on August 3, 2015 by Robot Hugs
New comic! It's weird how so many people have been more certain than me about my potential family life, even though I've held consistent opinions on it for about 2 decades. As I'm getting older, firmly in the 'sweet spot' for when I should be getting pregnant, people become increasingly certain about insisting that ANY MOMENT NOW I will realize that the very thing I want out of life is an occupied uterus. I've always been open to the fact that my views might change. I've changed a lot since I was 10, thank goodness. As an adult, I interrogate these goals and opinions fairly regularly, because I want to make sure that I'm giving myself the life I deserve. So I look forward in my life and imagine what I want. While I'm sure a future with children would have joy and fulfillment, when I think about that future I also think of a future that is undercut by regret. It is currently impossible for me to get pregnant, thanks to a lack of partners with sperm and excellent birth control. But if I somehow found out I was pregnant today, my first call tomorrow would be to an abortion provider. This has been true for as long as I have been an adult. It would be a decision I make with certainty. Why is it so hard for everyone else to honour my certainty?