You will see why this woman’s Facebook rant about fertility went viral

The post demands that people stop asking anyone about their plans to start or expands their family, specifically referring to “single 30-somthing’s”, ‘the parents of an only child toddler’ and ‘young married couples’.

In a separate comment, Emily explained that the diatribe was inspired ‘in part’ by a friend who had been struggling through a year of fertility treatment and finally conceived a son – only to be asked when ‘baby No. 2’ would be arriving, a mere month after she gave birth. She also mentions that she understands the frustration of such comments and questions as a result of her own experience, though doesn’t elaborate any further on that.

Clearly this struck a cord with women and couples, as the post has currently been shared over 35,000 times!

Emily’s full post reads:

“Hey everyone!!! Now that I got your attention with this RANDOM ULTRASOUND PHOTO I grabbed from a Google image search, this is just a friendly P.S.A. that people’s reproductive and procreative plans and decisions are none of your business. NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS. Before you ask the young married couple that has been together for seemingly forever when they are finally gonna start a family … before you ask the parents of an only-child toddler when a Little Brother or Little Sister will be in the works … before you ask a single 30-something if/when s/he plans on having children because, you know, clock’s ticking … just stop. Please stop. You don’t know who is struggling with infertility or grieving a miscarriage or dealing with health issues. You don’t know who is having relationship problems or is under a lot of stress or the timing just isn’t right. You don’t know who is on the fence about having kids or having more kids. You don’t know who has decided it’s not for them right now, or not for them ever. You don’t know how your seemingly innocent question might cause someone grief, pain, stress or frustration. Sure, for some people those questions may not cause any fraught feelings — but I can tell you, from my own experiences and hearing about many friends’ experiences — it more than likely does.

Bottom line: Whether you are a wanna-be grandparent or a well-intentioned friend or family member or a nosy neighbor, it’s absolutely none of your business. Ask someone what they’re excited about right now. Ask them what the best part of their day was. If a person wants to let you in on something as personal as their plans to have or not have children, they will tell you. If you’re curious, just sit back and wait and let them do so by their own choosing, if and when they are ready.”

Amen to that! Have YOU experienced being grilled about your baby-plans? Please drop me an e-mail at: Trine.Jensen@HerFamily.ie