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My Missing Maternal Instinct
Newsweek • • health
Key Points:
- Aruna Gobalan shares her experience of feeling like a "mother in name only" due to her stage IV cancer diagnosis and treatment, which limited her ability to parent her daughter in the early years.
- She discusses the struggle with maternal instinct, describing how she initially lacked confidence in her parenting skills and deferred many decisions to her husband, who was the primary caregiver.
- Despite her feelings of guilt and inadequacy, Gobalan gradually reconnected with her maternal role as her health improved, learning that maternal instinct can ebb and flow rather than being constant.
- A traumatic moment when her daughter had a febrile seizure and was taken by ambulance remains a vivid memory, symbolizing her perceived failure but also motivating her to be a more present parent.
- Gobalan concludes that motherhood is a journey of growth and adaptation, with maternal instinct acting like a lighthouse—sometimes distant but always returning when needed.
