Some women seek authority over children while fearing biological childbirth itself.

Evidence

Birth control and legal abortion would allow women to control their pregnancies freely. In fact, what decides woman’s fecundity is in part a considered desire and in part chance. As long as artificial insemination is not widely practiced, a woman might desire to become pregnant but be unable to—because either she does not have relations with men, or her husband is sterile, or she is unable to conceive. And, on the other hand, she is often forced to give birth against her will. Pregnancy and motherhood are experienced in very different ways depending on whether they take place in revolt, resignation, satisfaction, or enthusiasm. One must keep in mind that the decisions and feelings the young mother expresses do not always correspond to her deep desires. An unwed mother can be overwhelmed in material terms by the burden suddenly imposed on her, be openly distressed by it, and yet find in the child the satisfaction of secretly harbored dreams; inversely, a young married woman who joyfully and proudly welcomes her pregnancy can fear it in silence, hate it with obsessions, fantasies, and infantile memories that she herself refuses to recognize. — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 1433 (#expands, via linked claim)

Often a woman deliberately ensures her sterility either by refusing all sexual relations or by birth-control practices; but there are also cases where she does not admit her fear of the infant and where conception is prevented by a psychic defense mechanism; functional problems of nervous origin occur that can be detected in a medical examination. Dr. Arthus cites a striking example, among others: … Mme H.… had been poorly prepared for her life as a woman by her mother; who had always warned her of the worst catastrophes if she became pregnant … When Mme H.… was married she thought she was pregnant the following month; she realized her error; then once more after three months; new mistake. A year later she went to a gynecologist, who did not see any cause of infertility in her or her husband. Three years later, she saw another one who told her: “You will get pregnant when you talk less.” After five years of marriage, Mme H.… and her husband had accepted that they would not have a child. A baby was born after six years of marriage. — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 1437 (#complicates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Mistrust of adults about sexuality magnifies a girl’s fear of childbirth — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 717; Girls’ desire for surgery masks fears of sexuality, pregnancy, and the womb — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 767; Expressed attitudes toward pregnancy mask women’s contradictory and repressed inner feelings. — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 1433 (+2 more)

Broader Connections

• Expressed attitudes toward pregnancy mask women’s contradictory and repressed inner feelings. #expands (0.85) — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 1433
• Unacknowledged fear of motherhood can physiologically prevent conception. #complicates (0.78) — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 1437
• Unwilled, painful birth is still a form of female agency #contradicts (0.75)