There are a host of rationales for abortion — ranging from supposedly protecting women’s health to arguments that an unborn child is somehow not a human being or doesn’t become one until later in pregnancy or after birth. But another pro-abortion argument is seen in the anti-child mentality displayed by some abortion proponents.
Silk star Maxine Peake, an actress on a popular British television program, thinks it’s “selfish” for people to have children. However offensive to parents and pro-life people her comments may be, they may be borne out of an understandable situation as the comment came after she revealed her heartache at years trying to conceive without success. Peake explored IVF and had agony of two miscarriages, she said.
Still, Peake says there is an element of ‘vanity’ to continuing the bloodline of one’s family. She says female friends have thanked her for speaking out on taboo topic,
Maxine Peake has questioned people’s motivation for starting a family, saying: ‘Having children is very selfish.’
The actress – who recently revealed her heartache at spending years trying to conceive – said there was a ‘vanity’ in wanting to continue the family bloodline.
Miss Peake, known for her starring role in BBC legal drama Silk, explored ‘every avenue’ – including IVF – before finally accepting defeat. She also suffered the agony of two miscarriages.
Her hardships have led the 40-year-old to reflect on why people have children in the first place.
She told The Times how an actor friend had announced to her that he was too selfish to have children.
It prompted her to reply: ‘No, you’re wrong. Having children is very selfish. There is a vanity and selfishness in some respects in believing you must continue your genes and bloodline.’
Miss Peake said that watching her long-term boyfriend, television art director Pawlo Wintoniuk, 43, care for both his parents before they died had also made her wonder whether it would be less selfish not to have children.
She added: ‘It made me think I wouldn’t want to have my kids looking after me like that.’ Speaking of her struggle to conceive, she said: ‘Paw loves kids and we’ve had a go.
‘But it hasn’t worked. That is the case for many people. It is maddening, really, that women have these biological clocks, that just when they are getting used to one stage, they must go on to the next.
‘I am so much more creative and brave than when I was a teenager. In my forties I have this fearlessness to keep exploring. I don’t mind rolling around on the floor any more, looking a fool.’
Miss Peake said that since she went public about her infertility, several female friends had thanked her for speaking out, saying the problem was often viewed as something shameful.
