MaryBeth Kasselman-Schrems’s Reviews > The Quickening: Creation and Community at the Ends of the Earth > Status Update

“Kolbert, a mother of three, suggests that the decision between no children and "yet another child" ought not just to be about how many diapers you want to change or the care you hope to receive as you age, but about how increasing the number of human beings on earth decreases the planet's ability to sustain all life.”

“Before setting sail, when a friend asked what part of going to Antarctica made me the most nervous, I responded, only half jokingly, "It's not the cold that scares me. I'm worried about sharing a bedroom." A similar concern rises when I think about how radically my life might change should I become pregnant. What if, by having a child, I destroy the possibility of ever truly being alone?”