Emily Bingham's Facebook fertility rant has gone viral
If you are a woman who has recently wed, is newly cohabiting with your partner or are just of a certain age (anything over 28 apparently) you’ve probably lost count of the amount of times friends, family, co-workers, your annoyingly over-familiar postman has given you *that* look, with an eerie smile and uttered the immortal words: ‘So…any plans for a little one?’
One woman has hit back in fabulous fashion with a lengthy Facebook post addressed to all the, err, well-wishers (read: busy bodies) of the world, which has since gone viral.
Emily Bingham from Michigan in the US posted an ultrasound picture she’d found on Google in a pretty hilarious ploy to highlight the ridiculous pressure that is placed on women to either have babies or have a damn good explanation for why they’re not having babies.
‘Hey everyone!!! Now that I got your attention with this RANDOM ULTRASOUND PHOTO I grabbed from a Google image search, this is just a friendly P.S.A. that people's reproductive and procreative plans and decisions are none of your business. NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS’, she wrote in the post that has been shared almost 55,000 times.
‘Before you ask the young married couple that has been together for seemingly forever when they are finally gonna start a family ... before you ask the parents of an only-child toddler when a Little Brother or Little Sister will be in the works ... before you ask a single 30-something if/when s/he plans on having children because, you know, clock's ticking ... just stop. Please stop.
‘You don't know who is struggling with infertility or grieving a miscarriage or dealing with health issues. You don't know who is having relationship problems or is under a lot of stress or the timing just isn't right. You don't know who is on the fence about having kids or having more kids. You don't know who has decided it's not for them right now, or not for them ever. You don't know how your seemingly innocent question might cause someone grief, pain, stress or frustration.
‘Sure, for some people those questions may not cause any fraught feelings -- but I can tell you, from my own experiences and hearing about many friends' experiences -- it more than likely does.
‘Bottom line: Whether you are a wanna-be grandparent or a well-intentioned friend or family member or a nosy neighbor [sic], it's absolutely none of your business. Ask someone what they're excited about right now. Ask them what the best part of their day was. If a person wants to let you in on something as personal as their plans to have or not have children, they will tell you. If you're curious, just sit back and wait and let them do so by their own choosing, if and when they are ready.’
Here here! Now, how do we get rid of those bloody Clearblue adverts on YouTube…
Do you agree with Emily's rant? Should people keep their opinions to themselves?