New York : A woman’s Facebook outburst against unsolicited queries about 20-and-30 somethings’ plans to have children went viral over the weekend, drawing attention from international media, reports IANS.
Emily Bingham posted her comment on September 21 accompanied by a random ultrasound image of a baby to underscore “just a friendly P.S.A. that people’s reproductive and procreative plans and decisions are NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS”, USA Today reported.
The sentiment struck a chord, and as of late Sunday evening, the post had been shared more than 36,000 times by other Facebook users. The post caught the attention of two British newspapers, which recently published stories about the post.
The post apparently came about after a last-straw conversation Bingham had recently had. “I had had dinner with some of my boyfriend’s family, and someone made a joke about grandkids, pointed at me, and it wasn’t the first time I’d had somebody make a comment like that,” she was quoted as saying.
“I’m 33. I’ve never been married. I’ve had people say things like, ‘You’re getting older, do you want to have kids? Your clock is ticking’. I think I finally felt mad enough about it to say something,” Bingham said.
She said it’s not just about the insensitivity of asking those kinds of questions of those like her, single or unmarried people in their 20s or 30s. It’s also about the grief it can cause newly married young couples grappling with whether and when to have children, and those who deal with infertility or other health issues. All of those matters and decisions, Bingham said, are “incredibly private”.
