It’s not that being a mother is purposeless, I would agree that it’s the opposite. However, it does irrevocably change your life and especially for women, from that point on your life is no longer just your own and becomes in a large way now centred on your child. That is NOT to say women give up or have to give up their lives or goals or careers, but there’s no point in pretending that from that point out you are not dedicated to your child and at the very least making nearly every day to day and life decision around that child. Not to mention, for women the mental and physical toll just a pregnancy takes. Again, not to say that a baby is a bad or unenjoyable thing, obviously not lol, but it’s also not a ‘Dunno what I want to do with my life, let’s try this for a lark’ activity.
All that to say, it’s surprising to see Jess who never seemed to have quite ‘flown the nest’ or settled on anything in particular (and her boyfriend the same), now having a baby and therefore taking on the ‘my life is no longer just my own’ completely transformative decision. Whatever part of her life that might have evolved in an independent way in her 20s is gone now. Mothering is NOT a disappointment or directionless, of course not, but it is a very real direction that isn’t just ‘why not do this if you’re not doing anything else’ and actually means something. She is very young and tbh, who knows if she will even last with Zak.
