Shruthi, when I was in my 20s and 30s and considered starting a family, I realized there was no way my husband and I could afford it. My income was more than his and I'd be on unpaid leave, with no guarantee my job would be held for me, for six weeks. Even if I used 2 week's of paid vacation, I'd have 4 weeks of no pay with the additional expenses of a baby. So we didn't have children. (The daughter I mention was adopted as a teenager.)

I worked with a woman who had a baby, took 6 weeks off, and came back to work. It was very difficult for her and her husband because, like me, she made more money than her husband. For three years they saved every penny they could so she could afford to take time off to have a second child. That baby was born with spinal defects and needed a series of surgeries. My friend tried to return to work but her daughter needed a babysitter with special training and it cost more than she made, plus she had to take a lot of time off work (unpaid) for the baby's surgeries. She quit her job and her husband got a second job and worked 70 hours a week so she could stay home. But, with the stress of his long hours and the baby's multiple surgeries, he was continually sick and neither of his jobs had paid sick leave. They got further and further behind on bills and ended up declaring bankruptcy and moving back to their home state to live with her parents.

These stories are common here. We are not a family-friendly society, no matter what the Evangelical Christians claim.