Welcome back and thank you for listening to Aspastor John with Longtime Pastor and Author

John Piper.

I'm your host, Tony Ranki.

Tocophobia is the fear of childbirth.

It's the fear of the pain of childbirth.

The fear of injury during childbirth, both for baby and for mom.

And it's a fairly common fear that we hear about in the inbox.

The prospect of parenthood can be, of course, a luring, but the pain and the dangers of

childbirth are realities to be considered as well.

Here specifically is the question I'm talking about.

Dear Pastor John, my girlfriend and I have recently started having conversations about

our future.

She is a God-fearing servant who I can see myself marrying.

I also believe she would be a great mother.

However, she told me that while she wants to be a mother, she is very fearful of pregnancy

and childbirth and said she may only want to adopt.

I'm fearful that I would harbor some level of bitterness in my heart towards her if we

chose to not have biological children of our own.

Should this be a marriage deal breaker for us?

I think there are three things that I'd like to say in this kind of situation.

One is a word of empathy and understanding about the fear of childbirth.

Even though I'm not a woman, I've got a wife and I've got a Bible.

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