Below is a piece I wrote back in July about my family’s decision to have one child. All of it still rings true today — in fact, I’m feeling even more stigma now that Mia is getting older, and that I’m getting older. Just the other day, a person I see on a regular basis said to me, quite firmly, “So when are you giving Mia a little brother? She needs a playmate, you know.” Seriously. All of the elements of the Procreating Rules & Regulations Handbook were in these two sentences. Not only was it assumed that I would no doubt have another child, but it was also implied that I would just automatically have a boy. It’s the whole “one of each” rule that’s explicitly stated in the Handbook. Not to mention that I would be a terrible mother to cheat Mia out of a “playmate.” Because, as…
