I thought that's what the article was going to be...
My wife and I cannot have children. We tried and tried and it did not work. After her last miscarriage, we decided that was it. Adoption is far away on the periphery of thought.
For us the most painful question is "Do you have kids?"
It is a kick in the bullocks.
Me too.
As far as the questions people ask, they seem to me to be perfectly natural. Most people are friendly and are naturally curious, and someone's family is a perfectly legitimate subject of curiosity.
Of course, there may be matters of tone in the questions. And one has the right to respond as one sees fit.
If you think, "Do you have any children?", "Are you thinking about children?" or "Do you ever want to have children?" are unreasonably nosy questions, your sense of personal space and personal importance is probably set about two twists of the dial too high.
For some people it's a highly sensitive subject. Maybe one can't have kids because of an STD, a botched abortion, or because one is queer as a three-dollar bill... things like that are your business and the world doesn't need to be told about them and really isn't asking for that level of detail -- WTMI!
If it's a sensitive, personal matter all one needs to do is say, "No, I/we aren't going to have kids, it's a personal matter I'd rather not talk about."
Up to now, everyone's been perfectly polite. If after hearing something like the above, a person who is not a very close friend or relative continues to press the issue, then they have become rude, but not in making the initial query.
If one is offended by a simple and natural question, the wrong is not on the part of the questioner. There is no right never to be offended, particularly for people whose skins are thin to the point of fragility.
I personally have seen a lot of terminally childless women get snappy when asked about children -- usually it's because they spend their 20s and 30s in pursuit of the chimera of a career (and a closet full of shoes) and at about Age 39 realize that the single men their age are chasing twentysomethings, and their deferred dream of family and motherhood is hopeless.
Leads to lots and lots of sour grapes and misdirected hostility. One of the achievements of feminism.
d.o.l.
Criminal Number 18F
I thought that's what the article was going to be...
Me too! If I gain weight, most of it goes to my front, so on a bad day I may look a little pregnant. I had a woman I supervised ask me once if I was pregnant - I was so horribly offended! (Yes, I could have stood to lose 5lbs, but DANG!) I am 8 weeks pregnant now, so I'm not showing, but I'm waiting for the day when someone here at work with no tact asks about the baby...I'm not sure how I'm going to react, especially since I don't want a lot of people here knowing.