Fun Facts About Maternal Instinct
The insecurity about the development of our maternal instinct is recurrent in any pregnant woman. Before thinking about becoming a mother, we may have doubts about our ability to take on this role.
However, when we are close to finally being a mommy, these doubts can take us by surprise.
It is normal to ask ourselves how our instincts will develop, when necessary. What happens when we feel we don’t have it? Although we talk about it a lot again and again, scientists believe that the maternal instinct doesn’t actually exist. Despite this, many women guarantee that before they became mothers, they already had this tendency towards motherhood.
We often meet women who are determined to protect and preserve them from an early age. Furthermore, there are cases in which some girls are forced to take care of their siblings, and they do it very well. In this sense, we can also mention men who develop the “maternal instinct”.
Does every woman who has children develop a maternal instinct?
As we know, there are many women who, although they have children, never seem to have become mothers. These cases are usually presented by the person’s cultural, social and even genetic condition. For some people, it is difficult to assume this important role because of mental or emotional instability. However, the main cases have to do with external factors, which may not always be the justification.
That is why a woman who abandons her children for economic or social reasons will be the target of harsh criticism. However, no one can guarantee that she didn’t have a developed maternal instinct. For example, talking about mothers in the animal kingdom, they could give the greatest demonstration that this instinct exists. Still, many animal mothers end up expelling their children from the nest.
For experts, it is, rather, a matter of learning. In most cases, mothers repeat the story from time to time. We probably learned to be mothers with the care we received during childhood. That’s why those women who didn’t receive this attention as a child may be able to repeat this behavior with their children.
However, this is not necessarily how it happens. The development of the maternal instinct seems to be a reality, which surpasses any trace of a difficult childhood. In this regard, experts point out that what we understand as an instinct is a reflection of other factors. Identity, personality, culture and social interaction tend to determine the development of this phenomenon.
Scientifically speaking, it is believed that there is no biological clock capable of activating the maternal instinct overnight. That said, how do we know if it will develop in us. Is it an innate ability?
Is it possible that you don’t have the maternal instinct?
Since there is a maternal instinct, it is possible that we do not feel it. Many women do not want to be mothers and do not see themselves as such. However, that doesn’t mean they don’t know how to care for a baby or aren’t good with them.
In this regard, it should be noted that even if we have not thought about it in advance, we know that it is possible to be mothers. Without having prepared in advance, we women know that this day may come. So that’s when hormones come into play, which conspire to make us more susceptible.
Since we get pregnant, our body changes, and hormones change our emotions. This makes it possible for the mother to begin to feel attachment to the baby. A clear example happens with women who offer to be “surrogate belly”. Sometimes they regret it. That is, a woman who has decided to rent her womb develops affection for this baby that is not hers.
Consequently, it can be said that a series of internal and external factors make a woman develop the so-called maternal instinct. Those who believe they don’t have it are because, in their lives, conditions have led to denial. So, there is no need to be afraid of not being able to fulfill this role.
