Andrea went into episodes where she threatened her own life, and apparently thought so little of herself that she did not keep herself clean or feed herself as any human being would. She became an animal. But the real kicker of a 'reason' why she killed her children is her statement that she thought they were flawed.
IF she had succeeded in killing herself, THAT would have been tragic. Five babies left in the world without a mother. But then we wouldn't have had to worry about that. Her a**wipe of a husband has already proven he is quite ready to go out and find another willing cow to bear his seed. So they would have ended up with a mother again. THAT would have been preferable.
But somewhere between the fantasies she had of killing herself, and killing someone else, she somehow decides that maybe she IS worthy of remaining in the world...but someone's got to go...so it has to be her children.
The thought processes she had to go through in order to do this are suspiciously like a planned thing to me...thereby, deserving of NO OTHER FEELING OR COMPULSION THAN UTTER HORROR, REVULSION, AND REJECTION.
SHE chose her own life over that of her kids. I ask you, reflecting, is Andrea Yates a "Mother," when she thought SO LITTLE of her precious babies, who are the essence of innocense and promise, that she viewed wrenching their lives from their bodies FAR PREFERABLE to relinquishing her own?
I ask you, reflecting, how is it that she could suddenly decide that SHE is more worthy of life in this world than they?
NO milk of human kindness in her...
I too was a full time mom for many years, I know about stress, PPD. Our own experiences are not always a reliable reference in judging the actions of other. What was happening with A. Yates is something different than stress or PPD.