#And then there's months of recovery

[coochiequeens]

"You’d just be carrying it for nine months," they countered. "You wouldn’t really have to do anything." Something only an entitled man would say.

Why I Refused To Serve As A Surrogate For My Best Friend And His Partner

My uterus isn’t for rent at any price.

By Tracey Folly — Written on Aug 11, 2023

I am child-free by choice. There is nothing about carrying and raising a child that appeals to me.

So when my best friend and his partner approached me to ask whether I would serve as a surrogate for their baby, the answer was clear.

"No," I said. "Thank you for thinking of me, but I can’t carry your baby for you. Good luck finding someone else, though."

My friend and his partner were flabbergasted.

Sure, they understood I didn’t want kids of my own, but this wouldn’t be a kid of my own. They had been certain I’d agree to help them but they were wrong.

"You’d just be carrying it for nine months," they countered. "You wouldn’t really have to do anything. Besides, we’re willing to pay you."

I wouldn’t really have to do anything? It felt like they didn't understand a thing about what a person’s body goes through during pregnancy and childbirth. As far as offering me money, that was the least they could do, but it wasn’t enough.

My uterus isn’t for rent at any price.

I knew that my friend and his partner would have made great parents, but I was not comfortable with the idea of carrying their baby for them.

It was more than just not wanting to put my body through nine months of pregnancy. It was also about not wanting to be responsible for a child I’d then have to give up. 

You can’t tell me carrying a baby in my uterus doesn’t make me responsible for it.

No, thank you. Not a chance.

I can’t help but feel like, however much I loved my friend and his partner, it wouldn’t have been fair to them or the child if I acted as their surrogate. It simply wasn’t something I was willing to do, and willingness to serve as someone’s surrogate is certainly one of the most important prerequisites to doing it.

No one should ever feel obligated or pressured into serving as someone else’s surrogate; if they don’t want to do so, their wishes must be respected without question.

We all have our own opinions on surrogacy but no opinion is greater than another person’s bodily autonomy. Our friendship ended for reasons unrelated to their request to use my body as a baby factory, but the fact that our friendship did indeed end just goes to prove I made the right decision.

So despite all of the heartache, I stand firm in my decision. My body, my choice, in every sense of the phrase.

[probablyhuntersmom]

The healing and lasting love of a mom

[whumpacabra]

Sometimes you look something up for medical accuracy, understand the topic entirely, and then choose to ignore everything you just learned.

For the ✨drama ✨

[hoaxghost]

Viscera

[whumpingandsmilinglikeanidiot]

Whumpee thinks Caretaker is their new master. Good trope, right? But check this out;

Caretaker doesn't notice.

Because the morning after the day they were rescued, all Whumpee did was get Caretaker a cup of coffee. It was only after then that Whumpee realized new master new rules, and Caretaker might not like coffee at all. So after an hour or so of a panic attack, Whumpee decides to stay put and not do anything.

But Caretaker didn't say anything about that coffee, so Whumpee should probably keep doing that?

And so, every morning, Caretaker gets a cup of coffee, says thank you, that's a nice gesture, and gets done with the day, while Whumpee tries to stay as quiet and unnoticed as possible. Not angering Caretaker is their top priority. Caretaker notices Whumpee is really, really quiet, but hey, they might just like it quiet. They do seem a little scared, but they've been putting off well, so Caretaker is positive that they'll get better with time.

Then Caretaker hears Whumper liked a cup of coffee every morning.

That's.. a strange coincidence.

I hope that's a coincidence.

And they finally try to talk to Whumpee about it, and Whumpee breaks into tears and Caretaker realizes what a mess this is,

[coffee-cait]

quickly popping in while i'm feeling well enough today to post a lil something for Gaming's debut!

im also screaming they really did give him canon canto psychic damage... he's like me fr fr

and in case i'm not well enough on the day of, early happy lunar new year everyone!! 恭禧發財!!

[javelinbk]

The Beatles recreate Paul McCartney’s ‘collapse’, as reported in newspapers, including the Daily Mail. Plymouth, 13th November 1963 - part 3 (part 1, part 2, part 4, part 5) (x)

[kurgy]

been having a serious physical health problem for many years that is recently very quickly getting worse and as I undergo more tests and procedures while the problem actively gets worse, I got stuck having a serious talk about "purchasing at home accommodations" while they figure out whats wrong with my stomach and work out a treatment plan, because the costs of hospitalizing me for further testing/treatment instead for the unforeseeable futurewould ruin me, so I'm looking up some of the things she suggested, pricing shit out, and god half of this stuff was already out of the question because I am still displaced and man, and this is still technically cheaper than hospital bills, but I simply cannot save up/raise the money to get any of this in a timely manner

[therapyforblackgirls]

In observance of Minority Mental Health Month, Therapy for Black Girls and The Holding Space Foundation are teaming up to host a series of online events to explore the ways in which Black women of various generations connect, foster friendships, and evolve together through the campaign, Generations of Sisterhood.

TBG is excited to partner with Tumblr, streaming this event live just for you! Join Dr. Joy Harden Bradford and Dr. Lakeysha (Key) Hallmon, July 26th @ 7PM EST for a powerful keynote event conversation on the power of Sisterhood.

Grab Your FREE Registration Link Here : therapyforblackgirls.com/gos

[akindplace]

I hope the next months bring you the courage to do something you have been dreading to do, that you recover a bit, that you can feel less pain and more love, that you can find some solutions to your problems, and find new opportunities to grow and live a better life according to your own needs and desires. I hope you develop beautiful friendships and that the relationships you already have keep improving. I hope you get to try new things you have dreamed of. I hope you feel more safe and secure. I hope you feel more confident in your own abilities. I have hope. I will try. Please have hope. Please try.

[bossybigeyes]

[sofiaruelle]

Guess what finally came in the mail!!!!! My copy of Seasons of the Valley fanzine and these gorgeous lil goodies!!!!!!

Thank you so so much, @seasonsofthevalley for having me as a guest artist!!!

Also big shout out to my fellow contributors and the amazing mod team!!!!

[dailybloopy]

bloopy cuddling with hatsune miku (maybe sakura hatsune miku?)

[welcometogrouchland]

[ID: an 11 panel comic featuring characters from the owl house. Panel 1- a cloaked Darius sneaking around a wall. panel 2 he peaks around the corner, saying "well? Did you retrieve...the package?". Panel 3 Hettie Cutburn (who has old Hollywood style text announcing "surprise Hettie Cutburn!" next to her) says "Darius! Of course! Took some digging but I found them eventually. Tell the boy I say 'hi!'". Panel four- she hands documents labeled "classified" to Darius. Later, Hunter (post timeskip) walks through a door in Darius' home, saying "hey Darius, hey Eber, I'm ba-". Next panel- Darius, Willow, and Eberwolf on the couch. Hunter says "...willow?", She replies "hey hunter!", he asks "what are you guys doing?

Darius says "oh nothing...except looking at pictures of you as a baby!" Holding up the documents from earlier. We see two pictures of a younger hunter framed like panels- the first is of hunter as a baby/toddler aged hunter freshly sprouted out of the ground with a blanket around him, covered in dirt, while the second one shows a young scout Hunter covered in bandages receiving his sprig plushie. Darius' narration reads "courtesy of Hettie Cutburn- she found the only surviving copy of your early life medical records and gave them to me". Willow says "aww, you were so cute!". The final panel shows Hunter looking embarrassed/stunned as Willow takes a photo of the documents, and Darius says "I'm considering it an early father's day present- so, thank you, Hunter". End ID]

MERRY DADRIUS WEEK!!! Thank you to @sergeantsporks for hosting! There's other prompts I wanna do but they'll probably be late (maybe I'll do them in bulk and upload them on the final day). Til then here's a silly comic!

[lunar-years]

I think that if I fell into an Amsterdam canal and a cute man in his houseboat saw me fall and offered to let me come onto his boat to dry off I’d have done it too. So jot that down!

[borderlinebelle]

creeping closer to freedom in the most gentle and intoxicating ways. i found joy and heartbreak at the crossroads of confrontation and open communication… Mother’s Day rocked my core once again. despite spending precious therapy time on the (currently no contact) relationship between my own mother and i… i failed entirely to prepare for my most epic battle yet: my own parenting. introspection has me in its grips. my mamma-made family of 3 (me+2boys) makeshift and patchwork at best but it is cosmic creative explosions of passionate and unfathomably deep love. we all grew tremendously this week again. time is running through my hands like grains of sand… i am … so close to the next chapter of my life that …

it’s getting hard to pretend i belong here anymore.

in the chaos of spring to summer soul growth, i’m finding stability in grounding my body in getting healthy, NOT SEXY (cool bonus), and i must admit … I’m falling deeply madly in love with my human flesh suit and i think the next big piece of art i create will be a wicked little dedication to:

MY BODY’S RESILIENCY AND OUR JOURNEY

👀👅👄🦷🧠👣👂🏽🦶🏽🦵🏽🫁👁️🫀🫦