I don’t think it should really interfere with you having a family, as long as you really think you’re able to look after them. I was very fortunate that we could afford to have live-in help, but an awful lot of people can’t. But I don’t think in general it should interfere with you having a child. When my children were little there was a doctor who wanted to put the children into care for their own safety, and also wanted me to ask for help every time I crossed the road. And I said that would be totally ridiculous. But I didn’t ever iron. I always got somebody to do the ironing. As long as you can physically bring that child up, and you’ve got a partner who’s understanding and will step in sometimes, then yes, I think you should go for it.
When my husband and I were thinking of having a child, beyond the pre-conception counselling with regard to my medication and any side effects that it may cause on the fetus, we didn’t have any concerns about having a baby in the house with me having epilepsy. We didn’t think that it would cause any major problems, and it hasn’t. But the one piece of advice that really stuck out to me was the fact that I always changed her nappy on the floor. I know a lot of people have these lovely waist-high things with a changing mat on so they don’t have to bend down, and that’s something I never did – to the extent that I’ve got the grazed knees, almost, still. But I never, ever, ever done it any other way. And also I never bathed her without my husband in the room. And it became normal – it was just, I suppose, a bonding exercise in the end. She got to have bath-time with both her parents.
