Kirstie Allsopp’s tweets about when people should have children are dividing opinion
She says women shouldn’t delay getting pregnant, and has even suggested they go to university after having babies.
Kirstie Allsopp is a mother and stepmother to four children, and is no stranger to controversy around her thoughts on parenting.
Last year she received backlash for saying she smashed her kids’ iPads after they flouted her rules on screen time. This caused her to quit Twitter – but not for long, because she’s back and has some more thoughts about children.
You know things are going to get heated when she tweets: “Today is one of those days when someone should take my phone off me,” followed by: “But they haven’t so here goes…”
So what did the 47-year-old TV presenter want to get off her chest? Mainly that, if you want kids, there’s no time like the present. She wrote: “When I’m faced with a couple in theit late 20s who ‘want a few more years of fun’ I want to say ‘kids are fun, kids are the best fun, nothing will ever be more fun, non-one will ever make your laugh more, or fill your heart with such joy IF YOU WANT THEM DON’T WAIT’.”
The average age of new parents is steadily increasing, but Allsopp is intent on urging people who can afford it to “have kids NOW”.
And she’s prepared to defend her position. One Twitter user wrote: “Stop telling women in their late 20s they’re running out of time to have kids. It’s so damaging” to which Allsopp replied: “No it is NOT damaging, lying is damaging, the ‘kids aren’t fun, work is fun, booze is fun, fashion is fun but kids aren’t fun’ is what’s damaging.”
A lot of people strongly agreed with what Allsopp was saying…
But others weren’t so convinced, and believe becoming a parent is different for everyone.
Allsopp went on to add some thoughts on her own personal experiences…
This isn’t the first time we’ve heard Allsopp’s views on when women should have children. In 2014 she told the Telegraph: “I don’t have a girl, but if I did I’d be saying, ‘Darling, do you know what? Don’t go to university. Start work straight after school, stay at home, save up your deposit – I’ll help you, let’s get you into a flat. And then we can find you a nice boyfriend and you can have a baby by the time you’re 27.”
She suggests women should be told some hard truths about fertility, and should consider going to university after they’ve had children. Interestingly, she makes no real mention of what men should be doing in this situation.
Something tells us this won’t be the last time we hear from Allsopp on the topic of children…
