Making The Kid Decision ... And Learning To Live With It

[upbeat music] This is Embodied from PRX and WUNC.

I'm Anita Rao.

Helena de Groodt is someone who loves certainty, and for a while she thought she'd found it around the decision to not have kids.

I had spent years almost, like, on my high horse.

You know what I mean? Just being like, "I don't want this," because I couldn't risk it, you know? Like, doubt was dangerous.

Then, in her late 30s, an unplanned pregnancy and the end of her eight-year marriage caused her to realize that the decision to become a mother was not one she would face once, but over and over again.

And the right choice was just so elusive.

Like, I don't know what will make me happy, right? Like, no one is happy with the choice they made 100% of the time, and whatever choice you make, there will always be this lingering feeling of like, what if?

That conversation with Helena, plus a parenting coach shares her tools for helping people find clarity in their choice.

That's all just ahead on Embodied.

[upbeat music] This is Embodied from PRX and WUNC.

I'm Anita Rao.

Helena de Groodt is someone who loves certainty, and for a while she thought she'd found it around the decision to not have kids.

I had spent years almost, like, on my high horse.

You know what I mean? Just being like, "I don't want this," because I couldn't risk it, you know? Like, doubt was dangerous.

Then, in her late 30s, an unplanned pregnancy and the end of her eight-year marriage caused her to realize that the decision to become a mother was not one she would face once, but over and over again.

And the right choice was just so elusive.

Like, I don't know what will make me happy, right? Like, no one is happy with the choice they made 100% of the time, and whatever choice you make, there will always be this lingering feeling of like, what if?

That conversation with Helena, plus a parenting coach shares her tools for helping people find clarity in their choice.

That's all just ahead on Embodied.