If you have never had a daughter?

[Justbecauseidid]

I was having a conversation with a neighbour earlier who has 5 sons and no daughter. She often expresses how she would have loved a girl. She then went on to say those who only get to experience the one sex will never get the chance to experience full motherhood. As in they would never know what is it to mother a daughter or vice versa.

It got me thinking...

Those of you with boys, would you like a daughter and those with girls would you like son?

I suppose she has a point about having a full rounded experience of motherhood.
It got me thinking.

Two girls and no plans for any more. But if I were to have another I’d prefer a girl (with the usual caveat that a healthy baby is obviously the most important thing!)

I did have a couple of people ask if I was disappointed when I told them I was expecting my second daughter. I thought it was such a bizarre and rude question!

I always said I'd love to have a daughter but after 3 miscarriages & then attempts at IVF, I'm very grateful to have my Ds.

^ This. I couldn't agree more with this.

With 5 boys and, presumably, their father too, she's probably feeling a bit outnumbered and wonders what a more even sex balance would be like in her life.

'Full motherhood' was probably just her clumsy way of saying she doesn't know if life would have been different with a daughter also in the mix.

I have a daughter and I'm about to find out if I'm having a boy or a girl second time around. I don't mind either way but would be more than happy if it was another girl - I don't feel a particular need to have one of each!

I am 33, LTR ended, grieving my gran, recently moved back to hometown. No children. Would have loved them. So no, I don’t have any sympathy for women who oh so crave the opposite gender. I would have been grateful for just one child, regardless of sex.

2 boys, no wish for a daughter. Obviously I’d have loved one if I’d had one, I have lots of nieces who are wonderful and I love dearly , and when I was pregnant with my second I had a slight preference for a girl then, but once I had my two boys I was perfectly content.

My mother in law wanted a dd, but had 3 ds. She now has 3 granddaughters and 1 grandson. So your neighbor may get all granddaughters from her sons.

For those with no boys, watch Malcolm in the Middle.

For those with no girls, watch the episode where Lois imagines a better life with daughters not sons.

I don’t think a random gets to define ‘full parenthood’ for other people. Those of us with one child obviously only have the experience of parenting one sex. The same as single parents don’t get to experience couple parenthood, parents of multiple children don’t get to experience only child parenthood etc. I mean, I wouldn’t dream of telling someone they hadn’t experienced ‘full parenthood’ because they’d had to divide their love and attention between multiple children.

I have two of the same sex who couldn't be more different, so I parent them completely differently and have different experiences with them linked to their own personalities and interests.
She's talking nonsense and sounds a bit dim to be honest.

Only experience gender disappointment once. Found out I was having an unexpected child after one son and three daughters. Thought that it would be so handy to have another daughter as they were all girly girls and their friends mums all had younger daughters so would have been easier. Of course he was a son.

Sounds like your neighbour is suffering with Molly Weasley syndrome. Feel sorry for the youngest boy, especially if she ever gets her DD.

There seem to be people who think that its an ideal to have a girl and a boy for some reason.But many others are happy either with girls or with boys without wanting the other sex or both sexes.

Just daughters here. Never been fussed about wanting a son. If I had had one I would have been fine with that, but only if I had had at least one daughter, I would never want just sons/boys.

I have a boy and would be delighted if the next is another boy. Everybody’s idea of perfect is different, she can’t speak for everyone. Perhaps she might feel that she couldn’t experience full motherhood without both sexes but that’s not true for most mothers.

Ridiculous statement from your neighbour!! I have 2 sons and I can assure your neighbour that I have experienced motherhood in its fullness. That's just bizarre 😳.
Yes a daughter would have been nice but I still had the experience of motherhood.
An experience that some people never have/had.
Boys are 👍

Oh year and that woman @Justbecauseidid is talking crap, and as a pp said she sounds a bit dim. 'You are not experiencing motherhood properly if you only have one sex of children?!' LMFAO! Probably thinks you're not a real mother if you had c-sections too! 🙄

I don’t think you are being unreasonable asking this question.Before I got pregnant I always imagined having a daughter, I dont have any brothers and wasn’t particularly close to any boys growing up. Now I have an only son who is amazing. I have secondary infertility. I would be absolutely delighted with either if I was lucky to get pregnant again. I literally have no preference whatsoever. I think all children are so different regardless of their sex. Having a daughter does not guarantee you will be close to them and plenty of mothers have close relationships with their sons.

I always wanted to be a mum, and was devastated to suffer 2 miscarriages. I was lucky to carry my third baby to term and now have my longed-for baby - one DS. I never had any preference on the sex of the baby and i have no desire to have more children. He is perfect and I feel complete. I have never felt I have missed out by not having a girl.

I have two daughters, I have no desire for a son - no more than I have for another daughter. I'm happily done.

Motherhood is different for everyone and mothering every child is different, no one experiences all of it. I've never experienced a vaginal delivery, no experience so far of parenting anyone with additional needs, hope to never have to parent a seriously ill child. I think the sex of a child is just one of thousands of factors that feed into what makes them them and what parenting them is like.

3 girls here and I always wanted four. I've never felt I've missed out on anything. They're ace

I've got one girl.

I have no interest in having a boy.

I used to teach and I always had to work way harder to connect with boys than girls. I just find girls easier to get on with.

I'm very happy being a girl mum.

My boys are adults now. I got used to being outnumbered by males in the house and never wanted a girl child.
They both have lovely women partners which has made me think that having an adult daughter would be lovely.

When I was pregnant with DD1, I said something to my late boss about being grateful I’d “get away with not standing on the sidelines of football pitches on cold, wet Sunday mornings.”

He said “My wife wanted a girl…she got Beth”. Beth loves football, which is something I knew very well!

It very gently put me in my place and set me on a very different train of thinking about both DD1 and eventually DD2 and their sexes. Sex does not equate to personality or interests, particularly with good parenting.

9 years later, I have (so far) not been required to stand on any football sidelines, but not as a result of steering either of my children away from the sport. I do, however, sit in cold ice rinks and outdoor athletics stands in the wind and rain on a very regular basis. I’ll take that as comeuppance for my previous gender stereotyping.

I have one of each but would have been equally happy with 2 sons. My poor daughter has one son & probably won't have any more as the risk of a baby suffering from polycystic kidneys is too great. She's already lost one baby at 20 weeks to it. She's grateful for one healthy baby & it doesn't make her any less of a mother for not having one of each. Some women don't know how lucky they are & should appreciate what mother nature has given them