Brett Cooper

It's very touchy.

It's convoluted.

And it's polarizing.

But that's actually a conversation that's important and is relevant.

Now, one of the fellows at the Institute for Family Studies, where I actually spoke last spring, I believe in Virginia, they wrote a beautiful follow-up to this article titled, New Mothers Who Are Struggling Need Support.

Not a spotlight.

And she wrote about the three mothers in that cut article.

She said, on top of their mental health struggles, which they openly describe, they also had traumatic entries into motherhood.

The first mother's baby had colic, which has a well-documented short-term impact on the mental health of mothers.

The second mother had pre and postpartum pregnancy complications, which she described as so stressful, I cried every day.

The third's body dysmorphia issues rendered her unable to leave the house.

Frankly, their stories are tragic.

They are also outliers.

And publishing their narratives when they are clearly drowning in darkness and through one of the most difficult phases of parenthood seems outright abusive.

Now, this author then continues and she says that she herself struggled with postpartum depression and anxiety and that she could not imagine what she, as a mother, what she would have written if she had been asked to contribute to that article during that specific period of her life.

What she would have said, what she would have wished for, what she would have maybe regretted.

She says, who knows what I would have said.

But now, with nearly 14 years of motherhood and five children under my belt, I find myself very much in line with a recent Institute for Family Studies polling that finds that married mothers are the happiest cohort of women.

I absolutely love being a mom, and I find that my family, apart from my faith, is my greatest source of meaning and purpose.

I'm so glad that I listened to the older mothers in my life who encouraged me through the difficult years, and I'm grateful to have avoided the toxic and antinatalist pitfalls that abound, which is what the cut is promoting.