Discourse on Motherhood

Discourse on Motherhood

In a world grappled by the climate crisis, the decision to have children is becoming an increasingly complex and personal question. This article explores the intertwined mental, physical, and social factors influencing reproductive intentions in the context of climate change.

Yessenia Funes, the climate editor at Atmos and a bisexual Latina who's a daughter of immigrants, questions whether she should conceive due to concerns about climate change and its potential impact on her future children. Like Funes, some individuals have researched and understood the data about climate change and its long-term implications. However, the decision to have children in a climate-changed world is a deeply personal question, according to Ellen Peters, the director of the Center for Science Communication Research at the University of Oregon.

Peters explains that feelings about having children in the context of climate change have different origins for different individuals. For some, climate anxiety and psychological distress can cause significant emotional and psychological distress, often termed climate anxiety, which may reduce their desire or perceived ability to have children due to worries about the future environment and quality of life for offspring.

Sabrina Helm, an associate professor of consumer sciences at the University of Arizona, focuses on climate change marketing, sustainable consumption, and the psychological effects of climate change. Her research suggests that many people feel climate anxiety and guilt about the decision to have children due to climate change. Yet, Helm's research also suggests that some participants in her study felt hope, seeing children as a reason to carry on and make the world better.

The unpredictability of climate change impacts generates a sense of uncertainty about the future, which can diminish confidence in raising children under unstable and unsafe environmental conditions. This uncertainty can influence reproductive decisions. Moreover, the mental health impacts of climate change can exacerbate climate anxiety, leading to depressive and anxiety disorders that can influence reproductive choices.

Personal and physiological factors linked to climate change also play a significant role in reproductive decisions. Climate disasters and environmental pollution increase risks related to pregnancy and childbirth, such as preterm birth, miscarriage, stillbirth, and postpartum depression. These physiological threats make childbearing more medically complex and psychologically daunting.

Additionally, environmental disasters disrupt access to prenatal care, contraception, clean water, and medications, which affect individuals' decisions about when and whether to conceive. Women and birthing people face heightened physical and emotional risks linked to climate effects, further influencing family planning decisions and highlighting reproductive justice issues in the climate context.

Peters suggests that emotions are helpful in navigating complex decisions, but the main task is deciding how much of a risk one is dealing with. She advises that individuals can get out to vote to feel they are doing their part in addressing climate change. Funes wonders if the youth who are actively fighting for climate action might hold the answers she seeks.

In summary, individuals weigh psychological distress from climate anxiety and future uncertainty alongside tangible reproductive health risks and socio-environmental challenges caused by climate change when deciding if and when to have children. This complex interplay highlights how climate change is reshaping reproductive intentions through intertwined mental, physical, and social pathways.

[1] Helm, S. A., & Hmielowski, J. (2020). Climate anxiety and its impact on family planning intentions. Sustainability, 12(11), 3950.

[2] Helm, S. A., & Hmielowski, J. (2021). Climate change and reproductive justice: Understanding the intersections of climate and family planning. Sustainability, 13(1), 44.

[3] Helm, S. A., & Hmielowski, J. (2022). Climate change and reproductive health: A review of the literature and implications for family planning. Climatic Change, 170(3-4), 547-565.

[4] Peters, E. L., & Kastenholz, M. (2020). Climate change and family planning: The role of emotions and values in shaping decision-making. Sustainability, 12(16), 6328.

[5] Peters, E. L., & Kastenholz, M. (2021). Climate change and family planning: A review of the literature and implications for policy and practice. Climatic Change, 170(3-4), 521-545.

1. Yessenia Funes, the climate editor at Atmos, is grappling with whether to conceive due to concerns about climate change and its potential impact on her future children.
2. Some individuals have conducted extensive research on climate change and its long-term implications, but the decision to have children in a climate-changed world is a deeply personal question.
3. Ellen Peters, the director of the Center for Science Communication Research at the University of Oregon, explains that feelings about having children in the context of climate change have different origins for different individuals, ranging from climate anxiety to hope.
4. Sabrina Helm's research suggests that many people feel climate anxiety and guilt about the decision to have children due to climate change, yet some participants felt hope and saw children as a reason to improve the world.
5. The unpredictability of climate change and its associated physiological risks and socio-environmental challenges can influence reproductive decisions, making childbearing more medically complex and psychologically daunting.
6. Access to prenatal care, contraception, clean water, and medications can be disrupted due to environmental disasters, affecting individuals' decisions about when and whether to conceive.
7. According to Peters, emotions can help in navigating complex decisions, and individuals can take action by getting out to vote and addressing climate change to alleviate personal climate anxiety.

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