I recently gave expert comment in the Mamamia article The idea of having children terrifies me. Truly, on a deep level.
A 31-year-old married woman has opened her heart in a letter to Mamamia. She says that deep down, she’s uncertain if she should be trying to get pregnant or not.
You can read below how I work with these concerns in counselling and therapy with women struggling how to determine whether or not to have children as well as some of the underlying reasons that might be holding you back.
“Sydney psychotherapist Jodie Gale has worked with women who feel the way this reader feels.
“It’s about helping this woman realise she is not to blame for her mother’s choices,” Gale tells Mamamia. “She has internalised her mother.”
Gale says it’s common for women to feel fearful and uncertain about the idea of becoming mothers.
“You get some women who ‘just know’ they want to be a mother, but I would say the majority have at least some level of ambivalence, even once they’re pregnant.”
She says in therapy, she helps women tease out the underlying reasons for their ambivalence.
“I usually ask women to write two columns, reasons for and reasons not to. Don’t censor it. Then we tease out: Are they her own reasons or has she internalised them from someone else? Do the answers truly reflect the woman’s sense of self and her feelings and thoughts – that is, not her mum and dad’s, or society’s?”
Gale explains that reasons for not wanting to have children may include:
- Picking up your own mother’s ambivalence about being a mother
- Having a difficult relationship with your own mother
- Your own birth being part of a traumatic event (eg, being a “mistake”, your mother’s pregnancy being due to sexual assault, your mother being forced to stay in a relationship for financial reasons)
- Having gone through childhood trauma or neglect that takes away your trust in life, making you question why you would bring a child into the world
- Lacking self-worth and not trusting that you will be a good mother
Gale has seen plenty of women change their minds about motherhood after therapy.
“Once they have worked through their ambivalence, fears and thoughts like, ‘I won’t be a good enough mother’ and other mindsets – stories they have internalised from their history – many decide to have children.” ”
Image Credit: Mamamia
