The pro-natalist movement

As of recent, the low birth rate issue is being highlighted more and more, and the pro-natalists are being covered by various media outlets increasingly. The thing is, the pro-natalists in the United States - or even the United Kingdom - aren't really fooling anyone that knows better, in terms of what they're really about.

For whatever reason, I thought I would have the conventional life of starting a family in my late 20s etc. Not sure why I had that expectation for my life outcome, but I did. Now it feels like a bad joke. I actually remember telling a former acquaintance once, that it would be nice if I had four kids - two girls, two boys. I obviously didn't think through the practical logistics of having four kids. I just blurted it out.

When I was 28, I had to rush to the ER because I had somehow contracted shingles (?!). While talking through my symptoms etc., the blonde, overweight ER medical professional (was it someone with a MD? dunno) told me point blank to not have any kids. I was speechless - why did she randomly bring up this topic when I was seeking treatment for shingles? It felt insulting, and I felt she was slighting me.

Since then, I proceeded to make the concerted effort to not have any kids. Not necessarily because of what the overweight medical ER person said, but because situations were not conducive, in any shape or form, to start a family. I eventually got over my expectation of having a conventional life, and now I am where I am.

Even if I am clearly not the target of the pro-natalists in the United States, I am the type of female/woman, they have a problem with, which is now my problem to deal with. I do not have a care in the world that I am in my 30s, with zero plans to start a family. I do not have a care in the world that there is a decline in the birth rate (other people with my ethnic and demographic characteristics are having kids so meh, I don't need to). I do not feel threatened by independent women that are labelled cat ladies, nor by LGBTQ+ couples with or without children. I am not threatened by any type of person that has a different life, to that of a monogamous religious couple with multiple children. I thoroughly enjoy living in a big blue cosmopolitan city, while focusing on my own happiness and sense of belonging.

I also do not care that there are people who want to make family formation their priority. And like how they don't want people to force them to change their preferences for wanting families, I don't want to be forced to want a family. I have already discussed multiple times before, why women aren't choosing to have families and children (just to remind everyone, affordability, the role of women within a family and overall lack of incentives). I don't believe I am being out of line by saying, regardless of your views, women want to have a stable family which will provide them with positive experiences.