The one taboo question men should NEVER ask a woman

It pains me to say to this, but Jason Bateman... what the heck?

I'm a big fan of the man, who so lovingly speaks about his wife and daughters. But this week, Jason, you let us all down and dragged women's reproductive choices straight back into a dusty, dinner-table debate we all thought we'd left behind.

During a recent podcast episode of Emmy-nominated SmartLess, Bateman grilled pop star Charli XCX after she revealed her decision not to have children.

His response? The classic, eye-roll-inducing line women have been hearing since their twenties: 'You might change your mind.'

Yet when Bateman had comedian Ricky Gervais on his podcast twice previously – a man famously outspoken on the fact he and his partner Jane don't want kids – the topic didn't come up. Not once.

Why is it that, as women, can make every other life choice that men do without interrogation? Career changes. Divorce. Moving countries. But say you don't want children, and suddenly you're treated like you've just dropped a bombshell. Worse, a problem to be solved.

But here's what is often glossed over: more and more women who say they don't want children aren't just delaying motherhood. They're actively opting out.

I'm a big fan of the man, who so lovingly speaks about his wife (pictured together) and daughters but this week, Jason, you let us all down

During a recent podcast episode of Emmy-nominated SmartLess, Bateman grilled pop star Charli XCX (pictured with her husband George Daniel) after she revealed her decision not to have children

And I am most definitely one of them.

When I hear the word 'children,' my first thought is: frightful creatures.

At least, that's where my brain immediately goes when people (far too often) ask if I'd like children of my own one day.

You see, that clucky, mushy, motherly gene just never kicked in for me. While friends have felt the growing panic of their fertility clock, I never did. My ovaries didn't suddenly rumble and make me long to be a mother.

In fact, when I find out a friend is bringing their kids to a pre-arranged catch-up, I instantly start thinking of excuses to get out of it.

The screaming. The tantrums. The constant need for attention. In my mind, it all far outweighs the benefits.

And don't even get me started on what pregnancy does to your body.

For nine long months you waddle around in a state of low-grade misery. Swollen feet. A screaming lower back. A watermelon sized bump strapped to your front.

Then comes the grand finale, when a human exits via your birth canal, rearranging your insides so thoroughly that laughing, coughing or sneezing becomes a high-stakes gamble for the rest of your life.

And the boobs. Once gravity and a hungry infant have had their way, what you're left with could best be described as two exhausted reminders of better times.

Once the birth trauma settles, the real grind begins. Months of diaper changes, broken sleep and decoding cries like you're cracking the Da Vinci Code. Is it hunger? A tooth? A dirty diaper? A mysterious baby crisis we'll never fully understand?

Of course, you must be wondering, how do I know? Because mothers never stop telling me.

And when I speak to friends and followers who feel the same as me, the reasons are strikingly consistent. They just don't want the added mental load.

Let's be honest, with the introduction of social media, we're now seeing a realistically raw version of motherhood, not that G-rated version we get on TV shows and in movies. We get the full picture: tears, late nights, tantrums all documented live.

In fact, there's entire Reddit threads dedicated to parents who regret their decision to procreate, admitting that they felt pressured into parenthood rather than actively choosing it.

Some cite an overwhelming loss of freedom, admitting they weren't prepared for how completely their autonomy would disappear overnight. Then there's the exhaustion, the monotonous routines and the stress on their finances, mental health and marriages.

And perhaps most confronting of all, are those who say they love their children deeply, but regret the role of being a parent itself, grieving the life, identity and future they feel they gave up in the process.

And standing there, child-free and deeply unqualified, all I can ever think is: absolutely not.

You see, that clucky, mushy, motherly gene just never kicked in for me. While friends have felt the growing panic of their fertility clock, I never did

Don't get me wrong, it's a selfless job and I think mothers are incredible. But I know myself, and I know deep within my soul that my heart wouldn't be fully in it. And having a child because society expects it isn't noble. It's reckless.

So sure, Jason, tell me 'I might change my mind.'

But Bateman isn't alone. Over on Diary of a CEO, host Steven Bartlett and his regular podcast bedfellow Chris Williamson managed their own spectacular misstep when the conversation turned to falling birth rates.

On the episode released just before Christmas, the conversation veered sharply into the topic of why fewer people are having children - and that's where things unravelled.

Williamson linked declining birth rates to women prioritizing careers, independence and personal fulfilment, framing childfree influencers as part of a cultural problem rather than individuals making personal choices.

Yes, he believes women who are taking charge of their own lives and finances are turning us all into motherless spinsters.

It didn't stop there. The discussion drifted into whether society should somehow intervene in the 'mating pool' to correct falling birth rates, a phrase that instantly alarmed listeners.

It echoed the age-old, tired undertone: that women don't really know what they want and that they'll regret it one day.

But just look at Dolly Parton. She has long credited her childfree life with giving her the freedom to build an extraordinary career and a decades-long marriage on her own terms. Tracee Ellis Ross has spoken openly about refusing to see herself as 'missing' anything simply because she didn't follow a traditional script. Chelsea Handler has been refreshingly unapologetic about knowing motherhood was never for her.

None of them sound confused. None of them sound regretful. They sound resolved.

I relate to that.

And apparently, so do many others. According to Pew Research Center data, 57 percent of adults under 50 who say they're unlikely to ever have children say the main reason is simple: they just don't want to. Not because they can't afford it. Not because they haven't met the right person. Because they have no desire to.

Because we don't want to lose ourselves to the process. We don't want to tie ourselves permanently to the wrong partner, which I've watched a lot of friends do in a tick-tock fertility-clock panic. And we don't want to gamble on a life-altering decision because society insists we should.

What we do want is choice. And, while we're at it, some respect.