Helen Mirren confronts the final female taboo

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21. This reminds me of when I was taking care of other kids, along with my own,

and one of the girls, about age 9, asked me if people HAD to have kids when they grew up. After laughing about that one, I explained to her no one should have kids if they don't want them. I think the discussion led to talking about birth control, because my son, also around 9, was shocked to learn you could "control it".
As for myself, I wanted kids so much. My husband and I were together for 10 years before our first daughter was born and two others came soon after (everything in it's own time, I learned!). In those years when I was infertile, I would console myself my looking for other "famous" women who did not have kids. It always seemed like there were not very many, most women had kids. This was in the 80s, hopefully now women do feel more in control of this choice, and I hope it gets easier with each generation.
I have much respect for women who know they don't want kids and don't have them. I have seen many women miserable with the motherhood experience and may have wished they had thought more about it before jumping in.
I also feel sorrow for the women who want children and cannot have them. If only our biology was more in tune with our minds!