A journalist who wrote an article explaining why she doesn’t want children received so much abuse online that the BBC had to send a security guard to protect her.
Tech writer Holly Brockwell, who is editor of Gadgette, contributed to the BBC’s ‘100 Women 2015’ series with an article entitled, ‘Desperate not to have children’.
In the piece Brockwell (29) wrote:
“As a woman, there are four little words I can say that invite more condescension than almost any others: “I don’t want children.”
“The fact is, there’s nothing about creating another human that appeals to me. That’s an emotional thing, and translating it into rational reasons takes something away from its strength.”
Brockwell wants to be sterilised, but has had difficulty finding a doctor to perform the operation because they don’t respect her choice. She continued:
“You may wonder why I don’t choose another, less drastic, form ofcontraception but the pill has been making me sick for years and the only other option is the coil, which I’m not willing to have because I know two people who’ve experienced horrendous side-effects.I don’t need reversible contraception. There’s a 10-minute keyhole operation that can solve this problem for good, and I can’t believe that at the age of almost 30 in 2015, I’m still having to fight to get it.
We can choose to get pregnant at 16 but not to decline motherhood at 29. It seems our decisions are only taken seriously when they align with tradition.”
The heartfelt article was subjected to so much vile trolling that the BBC deemed it a safety risk and decided to send a security guard to escort Brockwell from her car when she arrived at the studio for a Facebook Q&A session.
Here’s a taste of the comments, which ranged from the earnest:
@holly kids or not its your decision,but besides this whole debacle what legacy will you be leaving?kids are a person’s legacy.
— keep guessing (@HansoloSimon) November 25, 2015
To the creepy…
Random man messaged me on FB re having kids. He is now able to CALL MY MOBILE using Facebook Messenger. What even — Holly Brockwell (@holly) November 24, 2015
To the downright moronic…
@ASkepticAtheist @holly yes cause she is a dumb and all she needs to do is close her mouth and legs. — Mrvigilante (@Mrvigilante1) November 26, 2015
You can read Holly’s full article here. Let us know your thoughts on Twitter @HerFamilydotie.
