Last night I began reading Inside My Heart written by Robin McGraw. Within the second chapter she wrote a statement that got me thinking.

I have always felt that motherhood was my calling, and I have always known I am going to do everything I can for my children because I want to be able to say that I'm doing a good job, with no regrets. p.21

I wonder how many women can make a statement like this. I know that I am not one of them. I believe that after I decided to have my kids then I felt like being their mom was a "calling" for me. But this wasn't always so. There was a period of years that I wasn't even sure that I wanted to have kids, so I don't think that it can be called a "calling".

In this day and age are women encouraged to be mothers? I know that there have been years where women were made to think that motherhood was less than. And also the reverse, where motherhood was the ultimate for women.

And how does fertility and infertility play into these decisions? I think that with my infertility, it seemed that in a way, I felt that I deserved it because I didn't originally want motherhood that badly. How does this affect women who do feel from childhood that motherhood is their life's path? Will any type of mothering do, even if the biology isn't working?

In a lot of ways I feel that Robin is very lucky to end up being able to write a statement like this and have it be fulfilled. First of all, that she realized what her calling was in the first place. And secondly, that she was able to complete that calling by raising her two sons.