Native New Yorker, University of Virginia graduate, runner, and sometimes stand-up performer.

I have very distinct memories of myself, as a child, pretending to be pregnant.

I used to lay in bed, with a pillow stuffed under my dress to rub my “belly” in a circular motion, in the same way I saw moms on television do it.


At just 5 or 6-years-old, really all I wanted was to become a mother.

Now, I’m in my 20s, and I can’t think of anything more frightening.

Child psychologists will tell you that this is normal behavior. We learn our gender’s role during that stage in our lives — in other words, how to be a boy or how to be a girl. These roles are defined by differences between them, and what is more ‘”feminine” than giving birth?

As the years have passed, I’ve learned to express my womanhood in ways other than having a child, whether it’s through clothing, physical mannerisms, or even sex.


The need to have a baby in the future now feels obsolete, even unnecessary. I like my life the way it is, and how it’s been for years: I have a job, I have friends and loved ones, good health, and hobbies to keep me busy. I hear horror stories of moms who drift into the background of their own lives because they become so preoccupied with their families.