Single motherhood – are we ready to accept it yet?

We have a blog this week on the ethical dilemma of a counselor who has been engaging with an adolescent single mother. This also brings forth another issue of whether, as a society, India is ready to consider single motherhood as a reality. It is plain fact that there are more and more women from many walks of life and communities who either voluntarily or forcefully become mothers without being lawfully wedded wives. We are a country who have historically and culturally glorified motherhood. Be it the way we refer our nation or in the deities that many of our communites traditionally worship, this placement of mothers on a pedestal is vivid. Hence I believe it is high time we ask ourselves the question of whether this sacredness of motherhood should only be awarded to married women. Do we really consider unmarried women lesser mothers? This is an issue that also needs to be discussed in the context of policies, since reports of exploitation and single motherhood have been rampant from many of our marginalized communties and conflict zones for a long time. Don’t we need directed policies acknowledging their existence and supporting them to secure their futures and that of their children? Let us discuss…