FLORENCE N. BLONDEL

'In  my country, Uganda, like in most of Sub-Saharan Africa, pressures for  young girls and women to be childbearers persist. An average woman has  about five children. My mom had 10. It's mostly the only choice we are  given growing up, finding a man, giving him many children, and doing  whatever he wants. I wish they could tell us that we can choose:

• few children

• to be childfree

• to marry later

• late childbirth

• education

• contraception

• employment

Informed choice matters.

I  like the I=PAT equation. The impact on our environment is affected by  population growth, affluence or consumption, and technology. Sadly, many  don’t talk about P. Not talking about it is an injustice to us who bear  the brunt of frequent childbearing/rearing with low or no power of  autonomy.

Not  talking about P, they forget that our unprecedented numbers exert  pressure on finite resources, contributing to biodiversity loss. While  per capita consumption is not a massive issue because most of us live  hand to mouth, what happens if we get lifted out of poverty? The A will  find large families, and no, you will not limit anyone's consumption.'