I don’t think any parent is that unequivocal in their feelings for the children. At some point or another, even the most dedicated and loving of us wonders just why we’re doing this, and maybe even experiences the odd fleeting regret that there’s no escape! And, as you’ve expressed so eloquently, the fact that a child was unplanned does not mean that they will not be fervently loved when they make their appearance.

For the record, my own three children were entirely planned. We decided to hold off on having a baby after we were married, and we did, for three years. Then we decided it was time to make a baby, and, six weeks later, there was one on the way.

We did that twice more, though with different spacing between the second and third. (Deliberately.) So it does happen that babies can be planned and well-spaced, without either ‘accidents’ or infertility.

I, however, was my mother’s Big Surprise… And my nephew was my sister’s, and my niece my sister-in-law’s… “Surprises” still happen, even in these days of easy access to effective birth control. And the children are no less loved, cherished, and valued for all that.

My kids aren’t planned, but man, they’re cool.

Thank you.