I never thought I\u2019d be writing to you, but I\u2019m torn between guilt and relief, and I really need to know \u2014 have I crossed a line, or have I finally just been honest? My partner and I have always known that we don\u2019t want children. It\u2019s not out of trauma or rebellion, just a quiet certainty that a childless life is what makes us happiest. We\u2019re fulfilled \u2014 we volunteer, we travel, we nurture our relationships in other ways. We are happy without kids! Most people respect that, even if they don\u2019t understand it. But my aunt Linda always judges me for it. Every holiday or family event, she finds a way to bring it up. \u2019You\u2019ll never know true love. You\u2019ll regret it when it\u2019s too late.\u2019 Once she even said, \u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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You\u2019re not a real woman until you\u2019re a mother.\u2019 I just bit my tongue. She was always loud and dramatic, and I thought it wasn\u2019t worth the fight. But recently something changed. Or rather, someone did: her daughter, Emily.\u201d\u201cEmily is the daughter of my aunt, my younger cousin. She and I have always been close. I used to babysit her when she was little, and as she grew into her teenage years, she started coming to me with things she felt she couldn\u2019t tell her mom. We\u2019d get coffee, go for walks. She once told me, \u2019You\u2019re the only adult I feel like really listens to me.\u2019 She\u2019s 15 now \u2014 smart, sensitive, introverted,<\/p>\n\n\n\n