Mothers

As I approach my daughter’s first birthday this month, I’m reflecting on what it’s been like to become a mom so late in the game — and the thousands of lessons I’ve learned. A lot of people have carried me through pregnancy and the first year: my husband, for one, has been a rock. His mother and stepfather. My aunt and uncle. They’ve all shown up for us in ways we didn’t even know we would need, with home-cooked meals when I was in the newborn bubble, with baby care so we could work or sleep or unwind. However, nothing has carried me quite like the groupchat a friend started in my first trimester. This friend had her second child on the way and realized three of us were pregnant all within months of one another, so she started the chat.

It’s ironic that the fieriest era yet in America’s abortion fight comes amid Mother's Day and Father's Day. Just weeks after the Supreme Court draft decision to overturn Roe v. Wade was leaked to the public, we collectively put it aside to nationally celebrate the mothers who chose to give us life. Now, with the decision about to be formally handed down, we celebrate fathers, those so often absent from the abortion decision and process all together. Pro-abortion groups are having a field day trying to convince Americans that access to abortion “opens the door to fulfilling educational and career goals” and the sustainment of one’s “bodily autonomy.” Rarely do you hear from men, specifically those who are thankful for unexpected fatherhood.