I have known for a long time that I am unable to have children naturally, though it has honestly not bothered me all that much.
I’ve always planned on adopting, and that is something I probably would have done anyways.
However, what does grind my gears is that even though I know what likely course I will take, I still do not have the option. There are ways that I could potentially have my own children, but even so I would be high risk and it is not something I would want to do.
In this sense, it makes me mad that governments take away reproductive options from those who can conceive and should be able to make their own choices.
And this is one of the reasons why I am completely, unapologetically, 100% pro-choice.
One argument that is often seen is that if the person could simply put their baby up for adoption, there are lots of people who cannot have their own who would love to adopt.
However, the problem that I have with this is that going through pregnancy and labour is something very hard on the body. It can be unsafe for some women, and they would have the option to abort if their pregnancy would put them at risk.
Giving up a child would be something very hard to do, I would imagine even more emotional than an abortion.
It is not the responsibility of another women to provide a child to those who can’t give birth. It is unfair for them to be forced to go through that, just for someone else.
If they chose to do so, I admire them, and they are doing an amazing thing, but policies should not be forcing them to endure pregnancy against their will.
This can often lead to unsafe abortions (we’ve all seen Dirty Dancing), or in cases that are happening often in developing countries, babies being abandoned and left to die, especially baby girls.
The other case is children being raised in homes where they aren’t wanted and would have grown up poor, neglected and abused.
The chapter in Freakonomics “Where have all the criminals gone,” explains that since the 1990s when abortion rates went up, crime rates went down, since many of the babies that were aborted would have turned out to be those neglected children, who were more likely to be involved in drugs and crime.
There are many reasons why safe abortion clinics should be accessible.
It is safe to assume that a woman is going to know her own body and what is best for her more than predominately male policy makers would. Women should be respected, and so should their choice on such a heavy decision.
I hope when I have my own children one day they will have a deep respect for others’ bodily autonomy that everyone deserves. Women should not be forced into carrying a baby full term because women like me cannot have their own, and would be lucky to be able to do so.
My infertility is not their fault, and these women do not owe me anything. Having a baby should be a happy event, not a forced result.
In many ways I count myself lucky that I won’t ever have to deal with an unwanted pregnancy and that I will be able to adopt when I am at the point in my life where I am ready.
I won’t ever have to deal with the pain and fear that many go through. No one should be denied birth control or a safe abortion because of my circumstances, and have to endure an emotionally and physically taxing pregnancy that is unwanted.
No one should be dictating what someone can or can’t do with his or her body. And that is why, as someone with infertility, I am completely pro-choice.