The journey from a lady to a mother is wild
The life coming in the world will be my responsibility
So, the future of this child will depend on my capability
Being a mother is not about giving birth
It’s about raising humans for the benefits of this earth
So, when I think about becoming a mother
I want all my attention towards the child and nothing other
I only plan to bring a life in this world when I’m ready
That is when I am mentally prepared, and everything is steady
I wrote this poem, because I know how hard it is for us women to be fully responsible for our pregnancy and after we give birth which not too many people understand that. As it was mentioned in 6.2 Reproductive Justice “the complete physical, mental, spiritual, political, social, and economic well-being of women and girls, based on the full achievement and protection of women's human rights”. And that’s how Loretta Ross defines Reproductive Justice which I fully support and agree.
Since I grew up in Egypt, which is considered as a developing country, infertility has always been an issue there. My father is a gynecologist in Egypt, and I remember him telling me how infertility can damage a marriage and a whole family’s life. It was a real issue there, because of many reasons. The first reason is if the couple got married and didn’t get pregnant within the first year, then they assume she is the one who has problems and they start to talk behind her back and how she is useless and not worthy enough to have a baby (primary infertility). Like it was mentioned in 6.4 Global Perception of Infertility article, “In developing countries, the % is a little higher, with 25% or 1 in 4 couples having reported being impacted by infertility (as reported on Demographic Health Surveys from 1990 and 2000)”. Which means the percentage of infertility is very high in developing countries like Egypt. Not only that, but if the woman didn’t have a baby boy, they think she is hated by God and it is a punishment from him to not have a baby boy who can carry the family’s name on (secondary infertility). And that was on of the psychosocial burdens of Infertility in Global Perceptions of Infertility. Many people in Egypt are not aware that men can be the reason why their women are not getting pregnant. So, they need to be aware of how fertility works and how it is not only the women’ responsibility. Moreover, women need to know how to seek an appropriate infertility care and how to stop to blame themselves when it happens to them. Because seeking infertility care is one of the women’ rights as humans.
By Mariam Elias