Pro-Choice Maryland

There are plenty of reasons why a woman might not have children. For many, it’s a choice to be childfree. Some are waiting for the right partner. Others might want to be mothers, but have had difficulties starting a family.

But the one thing many women without kids share is an awareness of constant judgment on their non-mom status. In an interview in January’s Allure, Jennifer Aniston addressed the issue head on: “I don’t like [the pressure] that people put on me, on women—that you’ve failed yourself as a female because you haven’t procreated. I don’t think it’s fair,” she said. “You may not have a child come out of your vagina, but that doesn’t mean you aren’t mothering—dogs, friends, friends’ children.”

( Rest of the article )

This is the best statement in the article that articulate my personal feelings about this:
As for the “selfish” label, Notkin says it’s in the eye of the beholder. “One could be called selfish if they have more than four kids, too,” she says. “All decisions that we make about ourselves and our lives are selfish.”
She is absolutely correct on this. The sad reality is that regardless what kind of choice a woman makes, it's going to be seen as her being selfish by someone. If a woman choses to have a child, she's selfish. If she choses to have more than one or whatever magic number you want to use, she's selfish. If a woman aborts a pregnancy, she's selfish. If a woman choses not to have children ever, she's selfish. If a woman choses to give her kid up for adoption, she's selfish. If a woman choses to use contraception, she's selfish. If a woman choses to get sterilized, she's selfish. If a woman choses to have sex, she's selfish. If a woman choses to abstain, she's selfish (see where this is going).

This is a classic example of "You are damned if you do, and damned if you don't". This is why it's imperative that when women make decisions regarding their personal reproductive health that they decide what they want for themselves rather than basing it off of other people's opinions because she's not going to make anyone but herself happy (yes, and that's selfish in of itself which brings me to ask "When have humans ever been 100% not selfish)

Rory Delaney is a three-year-old who has not been out of diapers that long, but she already knows something about changing them.

Her sister, Saorise, is a five-year-old kindergarten student who already knows what she wants to be when she grows up, a mom.

Now, researchers at Rockefeller University say the inclination that both Rory and Saorise feel at such a young age to nurture and feed their baby dolls and play with items like strollers could be something they were born with, and something that will definitely impact their futures.

In a study with mice, the researchers determined that a single gene exists that could be responsible for motivating mothers to protect, feed and raise their young.

The study's findings mean there could be a valid explanation as to why some women seem born to be maternal figures, while others come across as detached or cold or even completely not interested when it comes to children.

Some are calling the discovery the "mommy gene."

Moms who spoke with ABC News were divided on the possible link to motherhood, with some saying it makes sense and others saying it is not that simple.

"I can always remember playing with dolls and always thinking, 'I'm going to be a mom,'" said Melissa Delaney, a mother of three. "I do have friends who say they just don't have it in them to want a baby or to take care of them."

"On a good day I'm incredibly nurturing. On a bad day, it's a little harder," said Julie Taw, a mother of two, raising the argument that maternal instinct may have more to do with circumstance than genetics.

One blogger who leads a parenting website worried the gene study might present mothers with another reason to look harshly on themselves, and other moms.

"I worry that it could almost invite us to look at someone that does something differently than we do and say, 'She doesn't want to breastfeed. She doesn't have the 'mommy gene,"" said Melissa Lawrence, a mother of five and co-founder of CloudMom.com.

So, do you all think a "motherhood" gene exists?