When you want to be a parent and can’t, this is a loss to be mourned, says Philippa Perry
The question I’m a 48-year-old woman in a loving relationship. I don’t have any children. I have two brothers – my younger one has four children with his partner. The other, who is older than me and gay (and my half-brother), has recently gone abroad with his partner and had two children via a surrogate, with both fathers having had a biological child each.
I’ve always supported people’s rights in principle, especially gay rights, yet this has opened a chasm of sadness in me, not having had children. It also makes me feel like the odd one out among my siblings as they are both now busy with their respective families.