Marie O'Riordan, former editor of Marie Claire, waxed lyrical in the Saturday Times about the debate over motherhood versus lying in on the weekend and other such luxuries denied to most parented people.
She said: "There are millions of us — married or single, gay or straight, infertile or desperately trying, positively child free or regretfully childless — and yet we are increasingly sidelined by a society obsessed with progeneration."
Those who choose not to wander down the baby road, or those who find obstacles placed in their way should not be ostracised by society or made to feel like alien life forms. As Carrie Bradshaw pointed out on discovering her aversion to marriage and all things societally expected: "I should be put in a test tube and studied." However, surely the flood of 'procreation propaganda' only serves to inform us that perhaps it is those women who DO choose motherhood, particularly before the age of 35, that are considered to be the weird ones?
With a new government determined to make Britain the most family-friendly country in Europe is it any wonder the media and entertainment industry are clamouring to have their two penny's worth? Fertility is the hot topic of the day as babies become the new popular accessory, and 20-something women with a bump no longer need worry that opinions may instantly be drawn to the negative connotations of pregnancy on someone still young enough to wear a crop top and mini skirt.
Opinions change, trends fluctuate, and Jennifer Aniston's fateful saga continues, but what is clear is this: everybody is entitled to do what they want to do, and to be able to do it without fear of judgement or discrimination.
Life is for living, and more importantly, living it for nobody but yourself.
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