How do you feel about being/becoming a parent?

Women and mothers feel many varied things around having/not having children. Below shows a selection of thoughts and feelings from women* aged between 31-41 who have a lived experience of motherhood, as well as those who have chosen not to have children, or are in the process of deciding.

"I feel honoured and incredibly lucky ... I feel full - full of joy, satisfaction, contentment, love and then the fullness and weight of the admin associated with parenthood, the ever busy mind and body."

"Being a parent has honestly enriched my life more than anything that I’ve done before. However, I find it exhausting and it sometimes feels like a big weight on me rather than something that invigorates me."

"I feel very ambivalent about being a parent as I am not one and am not planning on becoming one. I have always had a feeling since I can remember that I did not want to have children. I think I've known this since I was 15, 16, and this feeling has never changed despite of what other people were telling me at the time."

"I feel elated. I feel exhausted. I feel fulfilled but sometimes empty. Sometimes I don't feel at all."

joy

Satisfaction

Contentment

love

fullness

weight

admin

busy mind/body.

Tired

Old

Challenged

Split in half

Compromised

Proud

Torn

Exhausted

Natural

Surreal

Nervous

Worried

Responsible

At sea

Insignificant

Loved

Fulfilled

Empty

Nothingness

Frustrating

Suffocating

Bursting with love

'Being a parent is complex! It's a mental and physical rollercoaster. And these feelings can change so many times in just a few hours / a day."

" I feel challenged a lot of the time. And very much split in half between work commitments and parenting. Compromised a lot of the time."

"I feel nervous and worried all the time."

"It's at the same time the best and most natural things but also the most surreal and difficult role I've ever stepped into."

"Society's expectations of parents are unrealistic... A lack of focus given to the value of childcare or those with primary caring responsibilities. I feel this is a fundamental problem with capitalist societies."

"I feel a very strong solid sense of responsibility and goal to nurture and grow my child into a whole and beautiful human - a strangely strong and focused sense of direction that I didn't have before."

"Proud but torn and exhausted"