...Childfree women are invisible...

In a society where everything is child-focused (even in the West), becoming a mother is seen as the top achievement for a woman in her life.

Take a pregnancy announcement for example - or the birth of a baby. 
The (future) mother is congratulated - again and again and again. Congratulatory cards and presents are sent to her and the father.

Well, I thought that making one's genitalia procreate is as common as changing one's t-shirt. Procreating is a biological function. So, what's the point of congratulating someone when a baby is born? We are 7 billion people on this planet and we are struggling for natural resources - so why do we congratulate every human being adding into the problem via procreation? 

Some of you may say that giving congratulations when a baby is born is a social obligation. We are entitled to say 'congratulations' to expectant parents, otherwise we will be stigmatised as 'antisocial'. 

Well, I don't! I 'd rather be myself and be called antisocial than say something I don't mean. 

But let us now go back to the points raised on the first paragraph. 

Is having a baby the top achievement in a woman's life? 

In fact, the answer is yes. With so many women out there, many cannot boast for anything else than 'being a mum or a grandma'.

But how about the childfree? We certainly don't tick the boxes that would make us worthy in the eye of the 'normal' beholder - don't we? 

So, how about if a woman - a childfree woman - does really well in education or in her career? 

Take Jennifer Aniston for example. Remarkable and awarded actress. She is often labelled as selfish because she has had no children (here).

Second example: Gertrude B. Elion: Nobel Prize for Physiology/Medicine, 1988 US. She was never married and had no children.

There she is: in the picture. 

MY ROLE MODEL

So, is getting a Nobel Prize less important for a woman than having a baby? It is for the average Jo out there. 

You know what? Sometimes I think that poor Gertrude received very few congratulations cards after winning the Nobel Prize, compared to what she would have received if she announced she gave birth to a baby.