I recently had my second contraceptive implant fitted (three years on from the first) which will now take me to the ripe old age of 41 without having any more offspring. This made me think of a blog I wrote in December 2009 which I’ve recycled for you below the picture of my two angels Natasha & Alexander.
My mother had five children and my father had five children. I am the only child, from their marriage 39 years ago. They separated when I was very very small and my mother remarried having four more children. My father had several relationships also having a further four children. I have 5 half sisters – Samantha, Susan, Lorraine, Marie and Keelie. I have 3 half brothers – Thomas, Richard and Craig. We all share one parent in common!
I have two very beautiful much wanted and very planned for children but unlike my prolific parents, I will not be giving birth to any more babies (unless my contraceptive implant fails!) I may foster or adopt one day but will not be pregnant again. This makes me a little sad especially as I grew up thinking I too wanted a large family, but there are three very good reasons why I have made this decision not to have any more kids (a decision I share with my husband I hasten to add).
1. There are too many people in the world – see my previous blog post on the Optimum Population Trust’s Stop At Two Pledge http://www.tishtashtoys.com/blog/2009/08/i-love-my-kids/
2. I now feel a bit sorry for the two children I have, having to deal with the effects of a soaring world population and the predicted catastrophic results of increased greenhouse gases – so maybe it’s best not to inflict such an ordeal on any more human beings from my loins!
3. I grew up with 4 younger siblings and not much attention from my mother (who was single for part of my childhood). I don’t think my mother intentionally ignored me, she just seemed to be either pregnant or looking after a small (noisy!) baby for most of my childhood. I love all my siblings but I don’t think most of us were planned and really thought through. My own mother recently said as much as she loves all her children, if she did it again she would only have two children, and advised me to do the same.
In my family now, there are two parents and two children so there’s always a knee to sit on or a cuddle to be had. Put even one more child in the equation and I’m not sure how we’d share ourselves and I’d be heartbroken to watch either one of my two ‘pushed out’. If you are a parent reading this, you will understand how there never seems to be enough hours in the day, especially if you also work like I do.
Can I just add – if you do have more than two children, this is not a personal gripe against you in any way, shape or form. We all make our own decisions in life and this is just mine. I would love to hear your comments. Please post below.
