My children WERE naturally conceived

Ya Know What Really Grinds My Gears?

The hoopla over people asking if someone's multiples were "natural."  I understand that they ask for the sake of figuring out whether you had fertility treatments or not, and most people wouldn't ask the parent of a singleton how their child was conceived, or if they were conceived out of love or rape.  But what's the big deal about sharing your story??

Even I wonder, and sometimes ask - but you never know if that person will flip out so you can't outright, as a fellow MoM; or maybe it's more appropriate as a fellow MoM? but I don't really know the rules there... just like the general public doesn't know "our" rules.  Mostly, I want to know if we have something more in common - and of course, so I can be extra smug.  (That's sarcasm; would I really act that way?  NO.)  So is that a crime??

Is that a crime?  No.  Does that make a child conceived through medical assistance a cyborg?  Nope.  A Swamp Thing?  Uh-uh.  Alien?  Guess again.  They're children.  Whether conceived naturally - as in, through sex, or through ART - as in, "the manipulation of egg and sperm in treating infertility."  The very translation of "in vetro" is "in glass."  One of the many meanings of "natural" is "characterized by spontaneity and freedom from artificiality, affectation, or inhibitions."  And just FTR, "spontaneous" is defined as "occurring without external influence," or "occurring naturally and without apparent cause, such as spontaneous remission," which I think are harsher opposites to fertility treatments, just saying.

If I wanted to be a douche, I could use any synonym for spontaneous to describe my triplets, since they were, and these words are available for my use as part of the English language to describe my children having been conceived:

• Automatically
• By chance
• Accidentally (this is actually also true)
• Effortlessly
• Serendipitously
• Unexpectedly
• Unwillingly

In the end, we all have beautiful children, regardless of how they were made, they were made.  You should never be ashamed of how your children came to you.  And don't ever forget that if you want to brave life outside your house, the general public will ALWAYS be obnoxious.  So just deal with it.

And that, people, is what really grinds my gears.  Tom?