Danielle Elliott

a child would be upset with me and resent me for not having had a dad as a choice that I made, not out of circumstance.

So that was really like my biggest hesitation.

But yeah,

the narrative I grew up hearing and everything was that single moms struggle.

Single moms can't give their kids as much.

Kids who grew up in homes with single moms are not going to have the same advantages.

And, you know, I think our culture piles it on top of us that it's really hard to be a single parent and you're not going to give your kid as much.

And,

I didn't want to put a child at a disadvantage simply because I wanted to have a child.

So I wrestled with that a lot.

And then I thought about it and I have this huge village around me.

My parents are really supportive.

My friends are amazing.

I live in Brooklyn where the village I think really does come together, if you will, to your point, to the question.

the cultural narratives really gave me pause.

And then I just had to think through them.

And so I knew that if I couldn't give the child a quote unquote perfect family composition, I could give them the family dynamic that would help a kid thrive.

At least I think I can.

A really great part, I would say, or I don't know if I'm categorizing it as joy, but I'm not negotiating schedules with a partner, right?

Like every decision I want to make, it's so empowering.