Thread by @annajanejoyner

Let's talk about kids. In one world, ages ago, I'd have them. I always imagined having them. I knew I wanted to be my own person and determined and free, but kids were always a part of that equation.

Mostly because I adore my siblings and family, they are the most important people to me - and the idea of extending that adoration is appealing. My husband would be an excellent father. We have an idyllic space in Alabama, surrounded by the ocean and dolphins and flowers.

And he's a teacher, and would teach them so much about books and nature. He would be the best father I can imagine.

I'm 34, and there are practical reasons I don't want children: finances, career, etc. But mostly, if I'm honest, it's that I cannot protect my children. As an activist and teacher, we don't have the funds to secure them from harm.

And even if we did, I don't know that we could. Because our world is increasingly harrowing.

Aside from my husband, my brothers and sisters are the most important people in the world to me. I imagine some of them will have children. At this moment, I'm prepared to be a badass aunty. Maybe that's all I need to be.

But I will say, I feel really f'ing angry that climate change has played even a small role in this very personal decision. And that many more are weighing the same anxieties and decisions. This is the world we live in now, welcome.