In today’s society, we are finding out new information each and every day about the dangers of our world that can hurt our kids. Bacon is being classified as cancerous, gluten will literally kill your child if you dare let them eat a slice of bread. Milk from the tit of a cow is both unethical and bad for their cholesterol. You can’t let them out after dark or even out of your sight for a few seconds or they will raped and killed by some stranger. And if a stranger attempts to converse with a minor not related to them, they are a pedophile. What in the heavenly f**k has our society become that we are so concerned about the “safety” of our child that we will shelter them from any and all things that aren’t perfectly safe? Seriously. Who would even want tot live in a world like that? Apparently our society. Helicopter parents are buzzing around every corner, protecting their child from every threat known to mankind, and shaming you if you don’t abide by the same parenting code they do. When I was a kid, my dad would leave me in the car with the radio on while he ran into Home Depot and it wouldn’t be a big deal. If you tried that today, you would literally be crucified in the parking lot by every f**king helicopter parent around. Sounds like a great time to want to be a parent.
But while that was a minor rant on the idiocies that parents these days subject too, let us talk about something neurochemistry related on the issue. Autism. Something nobody wants their child to be diagnosed with, but that affects close to 1% of children born today. Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder caused by genomic alterations whilst in the womb. Micro-deletions and insertions in the womb alter GPCR’s (and their derivative cascades) and affect numerous brain functions, including social cognition, intelligence, mental focus, behavior, emotional response, etc.
So how does this connect to my earlier rant? Studies are finding that literally anything you consume or do while pregnant can. Zinc abnormalities in the mother (deficiency or overabundance) can increase the risk of autism in the child. Zinc is found in most seafood, but you can’t eat seafood too often while pregnant due to mercury in the ocean and its potential to increase the risk of autism.
Also, if you are over the age of 35 as a woman and choose to have kids at that later age, your chances of having a child with autism increases dramatically. This is due to a “freezer burnt” effect on the eggs of the mother. Think about it. Women are born with all the eggs they will ever release during their lifetime. Eggs don’t recycle like sperm, so if they sit inside someone for 35+ years, they just get older and their parts don’t hold together as well. Eggs are not like fancy wine. They don’t get better with age. They are more like old cars. Eventually, it’s just not worth the amount of effort to keep them running.
So is it even worth it to consider having kids these days? Everything a mother can do increases the risk for autism, including dietary and age restrictions. And you are facing constant judgment from parents who seem to think they know more than you. Not to mention the fact that our world is becoming increasingly unstable with the threat of global terrorism on the rise. So yeah, it is not wrong to think twice before getting off the birth control and popping out a child. It’s not exactly the best time to be a parent. But hey, that is just my opinion.
Parenting: Why even try?
