Women Of Reddit Confess The Intense Reasons Why They Regret Giving Birth
These are the types of secrets women only whisper about and keep to themselves, but they are so powerfully raw and honest.
Reddit has a way of turning private regrets into public confessionals, and one AskWomen thread did exactly that. A user asked women to share whether they regretted giving birth, and the answers were raw, complicated, and deeply personal.
The responses touched on disability, career fallout, painful pregnancies, difficult partners, postpartum depression, and the long shadow childbirth can leave on a body and a life. Some women said they loved their children but still wished they had understood the cost more clearly before becoming mothers.
Here are the candid Reddit confessions that made the thread hit so hard.
Here's the question that started it all:
Baby_noodles4uThe thread got personal fast.
1. Raising a child with a disability is not the feel-good story you think it is.
koibish2. Surrogacy should be more accessible because women's bodies go through a lot during pregnancy and after it.
speedspectator
3. Having children has a concrete impact on women's careers, whether the world would like to admit it or not.
witchbrew7
witchbrew7
That part hit a nerve.
4. In some cases, women are no more than walking incubators, and their value is tied to their ability and choice to have a child or not.
fibrepirate
Pregnancy should not just be about the health of the baby; it should also be about the mom.
fibrepirate
fibrepirate
5. Sometimes women regret their choice of partner to have children with.
dollyprincessb
6. The long-term impacts of pregnancy and childbirth on a woman's body are horrifying.
bopeepsheep
And then the stories got even heavier.
This is similar to the woman who wondered if she should have hidden her pregnancy to protect infertile friends.
7. If you have a child with an abusive partner and the court deems them a suitable parent as well, then you are bound to them by law.
zuklei
8. Having a child in the current state of the world is kind of like fighting a losing battle for this mom.
Significant-Mood-396
9. Science is still trying to decipher just how many things can go wrong in a woman's body decades after giving birth.
ukiebee
10. More people, both men and women, should be made aware of how challenging a difficult pregnancy is.
Flaky_Debate_8296
11. If your partner is unsupportive, you will have a terrible pregnancy experience, and after that, a terrible co-parenting experience.
cherrytrashpanda
12. Although your kids may make the pain worth it, pregnancy is not at all kind to women, their hormones, and their bodies.
dawnrabbit10
Some of these confessions were brutally direct.
13. This lady has consistent daily pain from her pregnancy years ago.
shannonspeakstoomuch
shannonspeakstoomuch
14. Passing down mental illness to your children is no laughing matter, and this is why sex education is important.
fleimarie
15. Being a teenage mom can sometimes mean growing up with a parent who is not ready for the responsibilities of parenthood.
cuddlewithyourdemons
16. Simply put, it's just really painful.
RarityKitty
17. Your choice of hospital could also make your childbirth a nightmare.
AnyKick346
18. Postpartum depression is not a joking matter, and if left untreated, women and their children will suffer a lot.
Pitiful_Speaker7050
It was a reminder that motherhood is not one-size-fits-all.
Women are still too often treated like their only job is to have children, and that pressure can make honest conversations about pregnancy and regret feel even harder to have.
These Reddit confessions do not erase anyone's love for their kids, but they do show how much pain can sit underneath the surface.
Wait until you see how OP handled family pressure to reveal her baby’s gender in this AITA about keeping the sex secret.
