One of the things David and I began saying after Brielle died was, “Maybe we shouldn’t have any more kids. I don’t want them to be a part of this awful world.” We’d talk about how disgusted we were. David and I have seen some of the worst parts of humanity during our time and research with anencephaly and it has made us embittered.

People are at each other’s throats over politics, we’re plagued with terrorism, corruption, war, hate, and greed. We watch our friends and family lose pieces of themselves in exchange for hate and bitterness. And David and I wonder why we would bring innocent children into such a terrible place, to be surrounded by the darkness of this world.

The world has been much darker in the past, but it is still such a terrible world. And so we talked about it, until one day we realized that you can’t make the world better by avoiding the problem. It is up to us and others to have children and raise them to know what is right and what is wrong. To raise them to be good people.

I feel like we’ve lost sight of that. We (myself included) seem to be more interested in raising successful members of society. We measure success by a paycheck, cars, a house, a tailored suit, and 2.5 kids. But at the end of the day, if I’ve only raised Brielle to be successful, but not caring and generous, what good have either of us done?

The world is always going to be a bad place. And bad things will always happen to good people, its just the way of things. But my children don’t have to add to the darkness. My biggest hope is that I can raise children that are good and honorable. I hope for a world where more people are concerned about loving each other than what their political party is doing. When did that become more important? Why do we hate each other over silly things?

We (myself included) ignore travesty and get so caught up in ourselves, in our opinions and beliefs, that we forget what is important. I hope that I do better. I hope that I am better for our future children. I want them to be better. I want them to do better. I want them to add light into the world, I don’t want them to be consumed with bitterness. A life of bitterness, really isn’t a life worth living.