Eskie, I'm sorry if my post upset you. I didn't mean to, and I was not suggesting that because my mother and my T both said I do have a maternal instinct means that every woman does. It was a specific comment about myself. It's not something they've just said, like "Oh, of course you do, don't be silly. It'll just come naturally when you have a baby" It's a, "I can see it in you, specifically you from your actions, and it's your insecurities getting in the way." I think both my T and my mother would agree that there are women that just don't have it in them, and that there's nothing wrong with those women. My T doesn't have any kids of her own. I guess the point I was trying to make was that sometimes we don't know our own strengths and abilities. And that maybe motherhood is one of those strengths we don't know we have because we've never been in the position to experience it. I'm not suggesting every woman should run out and get pregnant just to find out if she'd be a great mother. But maybe, in some cases, we should take our own opinions of ourselves with a grain of salt.

Also, to be fair, you said you never wanted children and the way you said it, I took to mean you never even had the urge to have a baby. I guess I don't think that if someone wants children, or thinks they may want them one day, they should not have them because they're afraid they won't have a maternal instinct. Of course, you have to take in all the other variables as well, like why you want to have children, but whether or not you think you have a maternal instinct shouldn't be the deciding factor alone. Sometimes, we're harder on ourselves than we need to be, demanding perfection and feeling like everyone else knows how to do it, so why don't I? when in reality, no one really knows what it's going to be like until it happens.

Again, sorry if I upset you. And hey, I haven't had kids yet, so who knows what my future will be like?