A Post a Day in May #10: Motherhood in three characters

I have pledged to write a new post for this blog every day in May. 

To mark this year’s Mother’s Day, I am contemplating motherhood via three women: one real, two fictional. Each is a robust and complex character, worth knowing and appreciating. One embraced motherhood, one refused it, and one fought for it. 

Anne embraced it: I celebrate my mother, Anne, every day, and am delighted to feature this year the tribute I wrote lo her last year. Everything I say in that piece remains true to this day. Mum raised my siblings and me to be who we are — independent, confident and capable. We are the lucky ones. 

Cristina refused it: I salute Cristina Yang, a character on the long-running medical drama Grey’s Anatomy. Yang is young, ambitious and very skilled. She “has greatness in her” as a cardiac surgeon and, when faced with an unplanned pregnancy — even though she is married to a man she loves — she stands her ground as a surgeon first and chooses to end the pregnancy. The scenes in which she voices her feelings as a woman who does not want to be a mother are fierce and memorable. 

Kate fought for it: I feel for Kate Pearson, a character in the ensemble drama This Is Us. She is overweight, a state that dogs her sense of self every moment of every day. When she eventually falls in love and marries, she wants to have a baby, but her weight makes pregnancy risky for her. Nonetheless, she perseveres with her husband and, eventually, gets pregnant, but gives birth prematurely. It’s nip and tuck as to whether their son will survive. The scenes in which Kate describes the yearning she has to be a mother vividly articulate the pull that many women feel towards motherhood. 

On this Mother's Day, I contemplate a role I do not have, by choice. May we live in a world where every mother is a willing mother and where every child is a wanted child. Blessings on mothers and their children today -- and every day.  

PHOTOS from left: Cristina Yang, portrayed brilliantly by Sandra Oh. Photo credit unknown, though gladly given. Kate Pearson, portrayed superbly by Chrissy Metz. Photo credit unknown, though gladly given. Anne Le Rougetel, very much her own person (family photo).

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