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ANN ARBOR, Michigan — Ever asked someone when they plan to have kids? According to a Michigan woman, that kind of personal information is really none of your business.
Emily Bingham is sick and tired of people asking her about her personal life, particularly when it comes to children and family plans, according to the Detroit Free Press. So she took to Facebook to air her grievances, and elicited a response that would suggest quite a few people in her position feel exactly the same way.
In her Sept. 21 post, Bingham included a picture of what she called a "random ultrasound" she found with a Google image search.
"This is just a friendly PSA that people's reproductive and procreative plans and decisions are none of your business," she wrote.
Bingham continues:
"Before you ask the young married couple that has been together for seemingly forever when they are going to start a family … before you ask the parents of an only-child toddler when a little brother or little sister will be in the works … before you ask a single 30-something if/when she/he plans on having children because, you know, clock's ticking … just stop."
Bingham goes on to point out that since no one knows the entirety of another person's situation, it's unfair to constantly nag them about things they have no business knowing in the first place. She highlights the fact that many suffer infertility issues or miscarriages, many are on the fence about children in general, and some just haven't found the relationship for which they hope.
"You don't know how your seemingly innocent question might cause someone grief, pain, stress or frustration," she writes. "I can tell you from my own experiences … it more than likely does."
Bingham, 33, told the Free Press that she was inspired to write the post after a last-straw conversation at dinner with her boyfriend's family, in which she was chided about grandchildren.
I'm 33. I've never been married. I've had people say things like, 'You're getting older, do you want to have kids? Your clock is ticking. I think I finally felt mad enough about it to say something.
–Emily Bingham
"I'm 33. I've never been married. I've had people say things like, 'You're getting older, do you want to have kids? Your clock is ticking,'" she said. "I think I finally felt mad enough about it to say something."
The post clearly hit home for thousands of people — Bingham's story was picked up by numerous news outlets in the U.S. and abroad and has been shared more than 60,400 times on Facebook.
"Never fully understood why this needs to be explained … but glad that you've done it so beautifully," wrote one Facebook commenter.
Bingham, a freelance journalist, said she hopes her story and message will inspire others to think twice before asking unintentionally insensitive questions.
"People aren't intending to be hurtful, but the questions can be insensitive and cause people grief," she said.
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