Superb piece Sandra. Scary and so true. I also think outside of the religious doctrination and pressure from the hard right is the bizarre belief that the more children one has the higher their status.

It's like a hierarchy - us childfree folk are at the bottom of the rung, people with one child - one step up, two children up another step up etc.

There's a weird reverence for folk with more children. You see folk put it in their social bios "mum of 3" etc, they have to get the number in there, as they are not "just" a mum, they have 3 (or more) earning them extra life kudos!