Joanna Charlotte

How dare I

Ask to be supported in my suffering;

Share that I am grieving

For children I can never have?

 

How dare you

Dismiss and belittle my emotions;

Force me to feel guilty and ashamed

When you have everything I wished for?

 

How dare I

Offer advice in my professional capacity;

Express an opinion about a child’s needs

When I have no children of my own?

 

How dare you

Interrogate me with intrusive questions;

Insinuate that I could have tried harder

To achieve what you take for granted?

 

How dare I

Say I have no additional time available;

That I have commitments and challenges

When I lead a ‘carefree’, childless life?

 

How dare you

Make patronising assumptions about my life;

Attempt to ‘fix’ or ‘normalise’ me

Because my difference makes you uncomfortable?

 

How dare I

Consider my life as worthwhile as yours;

Suggest that I should be invited and included;

Declare that my needs deserve equal consideration

Because I am Childless Not By Choice?

 

How dare you

Judge my life as inferior to yours;

Intimidate me into isolation and invisibility;

Propose that your needs should take precedence

Just because you are a Privileged Parent?

Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash