The fecund woman is still an object of veneration. In this week’s most Handmaid’s Tale announcement, Vladimir Putin has resuscitated Russia’s Mother Heroine award. First introduced by Stalin, it will give women a one-off prize of £13,000 (US$21,400) on the first birthday of their 10th child.
MATERNAL DILEMMA IN SPORTS ARENA
The maternal dilemma is even harsher in the sports arena, where women must make gruelling sacrifices to achieve their goals. There was only one mother in England’s Euro-winning football team. Defender Demi Stokes has a baby son – but it was her partner who carried the child who was born in May.
Kim Clijsters won three Grand Slams on her return to tennis after giving birth to her daughter, joining Margaret Court and Evonne Goolagong as the only female players to have had babies and gone on to win a title. She became the poster woman for Mother Heroines, but retired in 2012 to have a further two children.
To some extent, Williams’s story helps assuage my guilt and sense of inadequacy that I had only one lonely baby. If even Williams couldn’t fulfil her dreams and have a second child, then this family-making business is clearly harder than it seems.
A bigger family entails emotional, professional and psychological considerations – as well as, of course, joy and wonder – that I’ve decided, on reflection, not to mourn.
That said, how wonderful would it be if, in a dream world, Williams could pick up that final title? Not that she needs or requires the affirmation: It would just be one for all those career babies who never quite made it into the world.
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