It begins with love—a mutual desire to be together forever. On the day of our vows, in the intimacy that follows, something sacred happens. Unbeknownst to us, we roll the genetic dice. In that moment, we intertwine our histories, natures, and biological legacies. What might come out? We have no idea. What could come out after 280 days of my or your last menstrual period (LMP) is what we might both call a miracle. The child might resemble us both, or more closely mirror one of us, or even bear the long-forgotten features of an ancestor we've never met. Perhaps, weirdly enough, it could look like no one we might know. Yet, we are sure of one thing: it is a unique happening in history. In everything, our concern is more on the essence locked inside it.
To give birth to a child is to bet on a future one cannot see. To have a child is to cast the most sacred dice humanity has ever known.
Giving birth to a child is an act of faith, of surrender to the unknown. The superficial things are the child’s beauty, complexion, and sadly, disabilities. The important concerns are its dreams, passions, talents, and likewise the genetic gifts we offer it that will enable it to fulfil its destiny.
From when Adam had intimate knowledge of his wife Eve, humanity has been rolling the dice. We have been betting on the future. Our future. What comes out is often a marvel.
We love what comes out while it is tender, regardless of what it might later become. We tend to nurture it, in an attempt to participate in the results of what it might become. We aim to steward the mystery. We try, most times.
A child comes with both continuity and a clean slate, as both legacy and beginning, as echo and invention. What it becomes will emerge from the randomness of countless variables, some meaningful, many unseen.
We have chosen to bring life into the world, and it’s a beautiful experience when the seed of life is planted in love, yet we understand that we are rolling the dice. The result of our mutual trust is a mystery. We guide, we nurture, and we hope; we contribute to its becoming, but also keep our fingers crossed as life unfolds its own design. A design that is neither fully ours nor fully predictable.
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