2017 Women's March in Washington D.C. - the response of a barren woman.

We live in a culture in which adoptive parents are criticized for "taking" someone else's baby, and yet we march to encourage "freedom" of abortion.  My heart is struggling with the Women's March that just took place in Washington D.C.  On one hand, I'm proud of so many women gathering together to express unity and a desire for good for women across the globe.  I think of how privileged I am as a woman living in the United States.  Even though I may be criticized and come against opposition, I can choose whatever life I want for myself.  Yet in so many places across the world this is not the case.  So, I would march for my sisters who cannot march.



On the other hand, my heart is grieved.  This isn't a statement of lightly banded together words to figuratively express an emotional appeal.  No, my heart grieves.  I am a barren woman.  I desire a child.  And yet the march that took place Saturday, January 21st, 2017 in Washington D.C. represents millions of lives lost and millions more still to be sacrificed to "protect" a more comfortable way of being.  I am not talking about the abortions that could be considered medically necessary and don't want to get into that debate.  But I am talking about the children whose lives were taken even though 1 in 6 couples in the United States are longing for a child to raise.  And to respond rashly with the comment about the number of children in our foster care system as an argument for abortion and against the barren who should "just adopt one of our kids already in the system" denies recognition of what it really means to adopt one of these children.  Not everyone feels equipped to take in a child instead of an infant, let alone a child whose trust has already been broken.  Yet, I encourage everyone, the barren and fertile alike, to consider creating a home and a family for one or more of these wonderful kids. Still to say, "just adopt" to a barren feminist who considers the ethical considerations of international adoption and the risk of contributing to the human trafficking of babies, isn't an easy instruction.  To say, "just adopt" to a person who recognizes the baby she may have been called to adopt has already been cut from another woman's womb, a woman she would have cared, loved, and walked besides, is just not fair.



So, when I watch the news about the Women's March, I am both proud and grieved.  As a woman, I want to march, but as a barren feminist, I could not.


Interesting article: https://www.theguardian.com/society/2013/sep/27/ivf-where-all-grief-going