Is there such a thing as "maternal instinct"?

[MissMischief]

Bah, anyone who has had involvement with family courts and social work knows the idea that women are more wired on some biological level towards nurturing and love is a complete myth.

[Catarinense1998]

No such thing as a maternal instinct. Most females hate children.

You overcome the limits of human filth.

[KMack]

So according to its definition, a maternal instinct is some kind of innate need to create a child/children and need to create an innate skill of rearing a child/children. The online Collins English Dictionary gives a similar definition of maternal instinct: “the natural tendency that a mother has to behave or react in a particular way around her child or children”.

This would imply that maternal instinct is actually the result of human biology that does not allow a personal choice to be made to be a mother or not, and that it, as a biological predisposition, determines the manner in which the mother should act and rear her child. Otherwise, if such internal urge and mechanism that guide the mothers’ actions are not experienced, that would be regarded as something unnatural and abnormal.

Although the term “maternal instinct” is widely accepted in everyday language, there is still no fixed scientifically accepted definition for it. It is supposed that it would be a natural/innate tendency in mothers for a certain type of behaviour and reaction towards her child/children. But is it indeed so, is there really an innate instinct that guides them to behave and react properly towards their own children, which would allow proper mothering and rearing, in order to continue the development and the existence of the human race?

Well, according to latest scientific research, maternal instinct is actually just a myth:



Perpetuating the myth of maternal instinct harms all women, whether they have children or not.



What are your thoughts about this? Do you think maternal instinct is real or it's just another instance of social constructionism? Do you question, stigmatize and judge the women who don't have or choose not to have children?

Bogus definition. Maternal instinct occurs after birth.

If women were really born with a maternal instinct, we would see birth rates stay the same through the years. Even the feminist movement of the 1960s and ‘70s that expanded educational and workforce opportunities for many women shouldn’t change which women decide to be parents. But childfree adulthood has been on the rise since then.

Of course education levels and careers change birth rates. The higher the education level attained the less amount of babies these woman have.
Also the turbo rapid expansion of all kinds of birth control and abortions have decreased birth rates.

This is really just an article trying to defend women who don't have children or do not want to have to children.

[Annie999]

Bogus definition. Maternal instinct occurs after birth.

^ This.

The instinct kicks in after you have a child, you start seeing things and acting in a new way that can only be described as protective and nurturing instinct enhanced towards your own child.

[Bobby Martnen]

Can you for once stop speaking about your mother?

I think you've had the issues with your father.

[Moje ime]

I think you've had the issues with your father.

I don't think that most males hate children like you said that most females hate children.

[Peterski]

In Polish it is called instynkt rodzicielski which translates as, gender-neutral, parental instinct.

If English was a normal language with normal words you wouldn't have stupid debates like this.

[sean]

That's how it looks like when it's exploited in wrong way.

Childless old hags who redirect their long dead maternal instinct and desire for children into socialist politics are cringy as fuck.