Having a Baby is Selfish

Well, it is! If you're a lady and you want to be a mamma, have you asked yourself why? All the reasons are ultimately a bit self-centered - to expand your family, to have someone that you made in your own image, growing a family to pass on your name and traditions...  AND YET There are so many unwanted children in this world who need mums and dads to love and care for them. Ethically and ecologically speaking, our population is already to big for the way we consume the planet's resources. Really, a less-selfish thing to do would be to have no babies at all, or to be a mamma to another person's child who can't care for them.

But, we want babies from our own loins. Tiny people who look like us. People we can say, "Oh, he's just like my uncle the way he does that!" or "She laughs like me!" People we can love and be proud of because they are extensions of us. One thing I have realised though, is that your baby is your baby no matter where they come from. Several of our family friends have adopted and of course love their babies as much as I love mine. They don't need to look like you for you to love them unconditionally. The protective-hormones just kick in and all of a sudden you would thrown yourself under a car for them. Loins or not, it takes time to really bond with your bub (biologically yours or not) but once you do, that's it... it's love.

So back to my original point. Baby-making is selfish. And yet, here's the irony. Once the baby is born, you cease to exist, except to keep them alive and happy. It ain't about you anymore. Ever. So the selfish desire totally backfires in a way and you end up as some kind of milk-producing servant to a tiny human who can't even say thank you. This idea has given me a lot of laughs. At my own expense. I'm weird like that.

Es ♥

"What are you writing'? Mum, you're crazy."

"Actually I see your point. You are my milk-slave."