The Parenthood Dilemma: Decisions in Our Age of Uncertainty by Gina Rushton
Review by Hannah Clark
The Parenthood Dilemma: Decisions in Our Age of Uncertainty is the longform debut of acclaimed Australian journalist Gina Rushton. Rushton has spent years reporting from the frontline of reproductive rights and justice movements, and her journalistic experience translates elegantly into this compelling meditation on the burden of parenthood — and, in particular, motherhood — here. Each chapter, comprised of meticulous research and interview excerpts, explores a different aspect of the choice to become a mother (or not). Issues such as the politicisation of women’s bodies, racism, classism, emotional labour and trauma sit boldly alongside considerations of climate change, personal identity, and familial histories.
Rushton does not paint a pretty picture of motherhood; indeed, this exceptional book is one of many in the modern discourse to speak out the truth: that without radical changes to our society and the culture of servitude and co-opted autonomy, to become a mother is to compromise yourself irrevocably.
A mother exists in the extreme margins of our society. She is infinite and she is breakable. Revered and undervalued. Alone in her endless tasks and yet never given a minute’s peace. Yet within Rushton’s unapologetic and fearlessly candid investigation, there is a tenderness. ‘I have never allowed space to grow the idea of myself as a mother,’ Rushton says in her introduction and, throughout, the tone is one of discovery, as Rushton’s empathy and curiosity illuminate the stories of those she has interviewed as much as her own choices and story.
The choices we make are as much a part of the journey as parenthood itself, and our experiences define our reactions along the way. At times heartbreaking, and at others life-affirming, Rushton recognises that there is profundity to be found in the everyday struggles of ordinary people who wrestle with their choices and the echoes of those choices through time. What is admirable about The Parenthood Dilemma is that it does not seek to offer universal answers; it is more pointedly concerned with finding a space in which to consider our own questions, and how, perhaps, we might walk a mile in another’s shoes.