For a long time, motherhood wasn’t at the top of my list. I wanted a degree first. I wanted to travel. I felt like I had to live a few “main character” chapters in my 20s before diving into something as life-altering as parenthood. Now, with my bachelor’s degree in hand, stamps from eight countries in my passport, and a lot of growing up already behind me, I’m here. Nearly three months after my college graduation, I will very soon be welcoming my first child — and it was all my choice.
I know I’m not the norm. Her Campus’s recent Sex and Family Planning Survey with First Response found that 95% of Gen Z respondents don’t have children yet. Plus, this generation is loud and clear about the importance of reproductive rights — it was the top issue among Gen Z voters in the 2024 election, per multiple Her Campus surveys. Now, with reproductive rights being challenged and changing so quickly across the nation, young people are consistently at the forefront of rallies, marches, debates, and online campaigns in support of abortion and contraception rights.
So when people see someone like me, young and visibly pregnant, I know the assumptions they make. My pregnancy must be an accident, or I’ve swapped my values. Or both.
But hold up: The truth is that the desire for children hasn’t disappeared for Gen Zers — even for progressive Gen Zers. The same Sex and Family Planning Survey showed that 74% of respondents want kids within the next 10 to 15 years, if not sooner. Parenthood is very much still in the picture for Gen Zers; they’re just choosing to do it on their own terms.
So, what does it look like to be a young, intentional, and pro-choice mom in a post-Roe v. Wade world?
Young Moms Face All Kinds Of Assumptions — Usually, They’re Wrong
“I have a baby face,” says Christina*, 24, who lives in New England with her husband and 1-year-old daughter. “I could probably pass as a teen mom, so I think there’s an element of judgment that my husband doesn’t get, especially in public.”
Eri, a 22-year-old stay-at-home parent in Oklahoma City, had her daughter at 20 after becoming unexpectedly pregnant. She tells Her Campus, “People assume that I kept her because I think abortion is bad — no, I kept her because I wanted her.”
Gen Z has pushed back against so many traditions — rethinking marriage, opting out of the traditional 9-to-5 job, or choosing not to have kids at all. So when a progressive Gen Zer does decide to be a parent at a young age, it can feel like they’re betraying a narrative that was already written for them.
Kaitlyn*, 24, knows this feeling well. After becoming a mom at 21, she struggles to find her place in her small Midwest town. “My whole family were young moms,” she says. “But they came from a more traditional, Christian background. When I say I’m a stay-at-home mom now, progressive people assume I’m super religious. Conservative moms think I’m one of them. I don’t really fit in either space.”
Parenthood Has Only Solidified Their Pro-Choice Beliefs
The young-mom-to-tradwife pipeline is real, but that’s not the only path Gen Zers are taking. In fact, becoming a parent only affirmed Christina’s conviction toward protecting reproductive rights. “Parenting is hard on the best days,” she says. “I wanted this. I chose this. So the idea of forcing someone into this role — especially someone who isn’t ready — just feels cruel.”
Eri echoes this. “I had a really easy pregnancy and still consider it all hellish,” she says. “Pregnancy only cemented my belief that no one should be forced to go through it if they don’t want to.”
There’s also this false idea that being pro-choice means being anti-child. “I see a lot of people on the right saying that pro-choice women hate children, but there are so many pro-choice moms who love kids,” Kaitlyn says. “We just want people to have a choice.”
Yamila Ruiz, Senior Director of Communications and Public Affairs at the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Justice, clarifies this common misconception. “Six in 10 people who have abortions are already parents,” she says. “Supporting abortion access means you believe people have the right to decide for themselves if or when to become a parent … When people can make decisions that are best for their lives, families thrive, and we build communities where each of us can participate with dignity and equality.”
But when people aren’t given that freedom? The consequences are crushing. Ruiz points to research showing that women denied abortions are more likely to face financial instability, lower credit scores, and poverty. Because of this, “children born as a result of abortion denial are more likely to live below the federal poverty level,” Ruiz says.
Eri puts it plainly. “Children shouldn’t be born to people who don’t want them,” she says. “It’s not hard to tell when you’re unwanted, even when you’re little.”
Young pro-choice moms also know it’s in their own best interest to support reproductive care (including abortion). “In many areas where abortion is inaccessible, so is other basic maternal health care,” Ruiz says. “We’ve seen health care providers leave states, maternity wards close, and patients forced to delay or forgo care [due to restrictions on repro rights].”
Meanwhile, the current administration is offering surface-level solutions. Take the “baby bonus” that went through with the so-called Big Beautiful Bill — a one-time $1,000 check to incentivize people to have more kids. “The bonus baby is a joke,” labor and delivery nurse Victoria King from Washington, D.C., says. “The $5,000 they are offering wouldn’t even cover the cost of the birth and prenatal care, even if you have insurance.”
Christina adds, “It’s not the government’s job to be involved in the decision of how many children someone has, but if they insist on inserting themselves where they don’t belong, the least they can do is offer real benefits that help families long term, instead of giving out a participation trophy.”
Here’s What Pro-Choice Gen Z Parents Wish Others Knew
Being a young mom in today’s political climate isn’t easy, and Kaitlyn wishes more people understood the isolation that can come with being a young progressive parent. “A lot of Gen Z, especially the progressive ones, don’t have children yet,” she says. “So I tend to connect more with millennial parents. I wish more people knew that progressive young moms are out there, and that we aren’t all conservative tradwives.”
For young pro-choice moms, the right to decide if and when to become a parent isn’t the only thing at stake — they’re also deeply concerned about their right to raise children in a safe environment. “It’s f*cking scary,” Christina says. “I remember being excited through my entire pregnancy, to bring a child into the world. Then, on election night, I had a breakdown because I was scared for my baby girl. My job is to keep her safe, but I can’t keep her safe from the government.”
As for me, choosing to become a mom at 22 didn’t mean I stopped caring about reproductive rights; it only made me care more. That’s because being a young mom and being pro-choice are not contradictions. In fact, for many of us, they go hand in hand.
*Names have been changed.