A British woman has received a slew of online abuse after penning an essay explaining her choice not to have children.
Holly Brockwell expected some backlash when she was commisioned to write a piece for the BBC about women who choose not to have kids, but she didn’t anticipate quite how venomous the reaction would be.
In the piece, Holly wrote about her desire to be permanently sterilised.
She wrote: “I don’t need reversible contraception.
“There’s a 10-minute keyhole operation that can solve this problem for good, and I can’t believe that at the age of almost 30 in 2015, I’m still having to fight to get it.”
“We can choose to get pregnant at 16 but not to decline motherhood at 29. It seems our decisions are only taken seriously when they align with tradition.”
Since the essay was published, Holly has been bombarded with tweets and Facebook mails ridiculing her decision and branding her ignorant, attention-seeking, and even offering to start a crowdfunding campaign for her laryngectomy, to leave her unable to speak.
I have all the love for people who can’t have kids, it must be really hard. But it doesn’t mean I have to have them or can’t talk about it.
— Holly Brockwell (@holly) November 26, 2015
Speaking to The Metro, Holly explained: “There have been a lot of really nasty comments both about my decision and about me as a person. ‘I’ve been called heartless and selfish, ignorant and stupid, naive and in need of psychiatric help – the works. Plus a whole range of disgusting words relating to the fact that I’m female.
“I’ve been told to shut my mouth and legs, that I need an operation to stop me from speaking, and that no one will want to have sex with me anyway so I needn’t worry about pregnancy.
“People have gone into my background, my old jobs, things I wrote years ago, anything they can find to attack me.
“Someone even surfaced an old article written by a men’s rights site where they said I should be sectioned because a woman not wanting kids is mentally ill.”
If I haven’t replied to your message… pic.twitter.com/jm1bBnJVVC
— Holly Brockwell (@holly) November 26, 2015
However, Holly remains determined to stay true to herself, and although she took a break from Twitter for a short while, has decided to return to the social media site.
She said: “Why should it be me who has to change my behaviour? I’m not in the wrong here.
‘I’m not the sad human being who sent horrendous abuse to a total stranger based on a lifestyle choice.
‘All I did was speak openly and truthfully about something that’s important to me. I won’t be made to feel as if that’s wrong.”
