--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: For years I’d been awaiting that…" description: "\"“For years I’d been awaiting that overriding urge I’d always heard about, the narcotic pining that draws childless women ineluctably to strangers’ stro..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fb2/lionel-shriver-744_bad-news_for-years-i-d-been-awaiting-that-overrid_1973430.jpg" --- # For years I’d been awaiting that overriding urge I’d… ![“For years I’d been awaiting that overriding urge I’d always heard about, the narcotic pining that draws childless women ineluctably to strangers’ strollers in parks. I wanted to be drowned by the hormonal imperative, to wake one day and throw my arms around your neck, reach down for you, and pray…” quote by Lionel Shriver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fb2/lionel-shriver-744_bad-news_for-years-i-d-been-awaiting-that-overrid_1973430.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fb2/lionel-shriver-744_bad-news_for-years-i-d-been-awaiting-that-overrid_1973430.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fb2/lionel-shriver-744_bad-news_for-years-i-d-been-awaiting-that-overrid_1973430.jpg) > ““For years I’d been awaiting that overriding urge I’d always heard about, the narcotic pining that draws childless women ineluctably to strangers’ strollers in parks. I wanted to be drowned by the hormonal imperative, to wake one day and throw my arms around your neck, reach down for you, and pray that while that black flower bloomed behind my eyes you had just left me with child. (With child: There’s a lovely warm sound to that expression, an archaic but tender acknowledgement that for nine months you have company wherever you go. Pregnant, by contrast, is heavy and bulging and always sounds to my ear like bad news: “I’m pregnant.” I instinctively picture a sixteen-year-old at the dinner table- pale, unwell, with a scoundrel of a boyfriend- forcing herself to blurt out her mother’s deepest fear.) (27)”” [Lionel Shriver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel-shriver/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The narrator describes an intense, almost compulsive desire for pregnancy, juxtaposing the romanticized notion of motherhood with the fear and societal pressure surrounding it. **In simple terms:** A deep longing for pregnancy is mixed with fear and social expectations. Key Takeaway Acknowledge personal desires while questioning societal pressures. Themes motherhood desire societal expectations gender psychology Mood introspective conflicted Type literary psychological When to use this quote - personal journaling - therapy - support groups - literary analysis Key Concepts reproductive instinct social stigma identity formation Questions to Reflect On - What societal messages shape our view of motherhood? - How do personal desires conflict with external expectations? A Different Perspective The passage may idealize pregnancy without addressing real challenges. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Bad news](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bad-news/) [Childless](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/childless/) [Childless Women](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/childless-women-3326513/) [Deepest fear](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/deepest-fear/) [Dinner table](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dinner-table/) [Fiction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fiction/) [Hormonal Imperative](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hormonal-imperative-3326514/) [Mother](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mother/) [Motherhood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/motherhood/) [Nine months](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nine-months/) [Parenting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/parenting/) [Pregnant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pregnant/) [Pregnant Instinctively](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pregnant-instinctively-3326512/) ## Related quotes > [As history shows, childless women in America eventually provoke hysteria.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-goldberg/as-history-shows-childless-women-in-america-eventually-provoke/) [Michelle Goldberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-goldberg/) > [You know whats happening over and over now is that young women hear this message and they either postpone or decide not to have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-dobson/you-know-whats-happening-over-and-over-now-is-that-young-women-hear/) [James Dobson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-dobson/) > [Nobody knows what the cause is, though some pretend they do; it like some hidden assassin waiting to strike at you. Childless women get…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-h-auden/nobody-knows-what-the-cause-is-though-some-pretend-they-do-it-like/) [W. H. Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden/) > [“And women, it turns out, pay a steep economic price for being mothers: according to Shelley Correll, a Stanford sociologist who looks at gender…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-senior/and-women-it-turns-out-pay-a-steep-economic-price-for-being-mothers/) [Jennifer Senior](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-senior/) > [The absence of doll babies in my toy chest didn't seriously influence my later decision not to become a mother; rather, I disdained Hasbro's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel-shriver/the-absence-of-doll-babies-in-my-toy-chest-didn-t-seriously-influence/) [Lionel Shriver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel-shriver/) > [“With no interruptions to admire dolly outfits, no tomorrow is a school day, we gorged on fruit and sorbet and splashed immoderate second shots…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel-shriver/with-no-interruptions-to-admire-dolly-outfits-no-tomorrow-is-a-school/) [Lionel Shriver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel-shriver/) > [There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people will not feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marianne-williamson/there-is-nothing-enlightened-about-shrinking-so-that-other-people/) [Marianne Williamson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marianne-williamson/) > [You and me, we made a vow. For better or for worse. I can't believe you let me down. But the proof's in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-and-me-we-made-a-vow-for-better-or-for-worse-i-can-t-believe-you/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Empirical debunking cannot reach the deepest fear of the reactionary mind, which is that the state - that devouring leviathan - will soon swallow…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-perlstein/empirical-debunking-cannot-reach-the-deepest-fear-of-the-reactionary/) [Rick Perlstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-perlstein/) > [My darling boy whom I shall never know, My son, I love you in my deepest fears.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allen-tate/my-darling-boy-whom-i-shall-never-know-my-son-i-love-you-in-my/) [Allen Tate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allen-tate/) > [We spend our whole lives worrying about the future, planning for the future, trying to predict the future, as if figuring it out will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shonda-rhimes/we-spend-our-whole-lives-worrying-about-the-future-planning-for-the/) [Shonda Rhimes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shonda-rhimes/) > [As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nelson-mandela/as-we-are-liberated-from-our-own-fear-our-presence-automatically/) [Nelson Mandela](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nelson-mandela/) > [Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate, our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure, it is our light, not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nelson-mandela/our-deepest-fear-is-not-that-we-are-inadequate-our-deepest-fear-is-3/) [Nelson Mandela](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nelson-mandela/) > [Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerfulbeyond measure.Itis our light,not our darkness that most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/our-deepest-fear-is-not-that-we-are-inadequate-our-deepest-fear-is-2/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our Light, not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marianne-williamson/our-deepest-fear-is-not-that-we-are-inadequate-our-deepest-fear-is/) [Marianne Williamson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marianne-williamson/) ## More by Lionel Shriver > [The discovery that heartbreak is indeed heartbreaking consoles us about our humanity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel-shriver/the-discovery-that-heartbreak-is-indeed-heartbreaking-consoles-us/) [Lionel Shriver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel-shriver/) > [“I’m a journalist, and journalists need news. Deprive them of it, and they go a bit barking. 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Permission to be dull. I know Henry will sometimes say something so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel-shriver/i-think-that-s-the-biggest-favor-you-can-grant-anyone-don-t-you/) [Lionel Shriver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel-shriver/) > [“They were determined to find something mechanically wrong with him - because broken machines are easier to fix. p303”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel-shriver/they-were-determined-to-find-something-mechanically-wrong-with-him/) [Lionel Shriver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel-shriver/) > [“Bur Armenians have a talent for sorrow.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel-shriver/bur-armenians-have-a-talent-for-sorrow/) [Lionel Shriver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel-shriver/) > [“What is cool changes; that there is such a thing as cool is immutable.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel-shriver/what-is-cool-changes-that-there-is-such-a-thing-as-cool-is-immutable/) [Lionel Shriver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel-shriver/) > [“I have theorized that you can locate most people on a spectrum of the crudest sort and that it may be their position on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel-shriver/i-have-theorized-that-you-can-locate-most-people-on-a-spectrum-of-the/) [Lionel Shriver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel-shriver/) [Explore all 375 Lionel Shriver quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel-shriver/) ## More Bad news quotes > [In the wake of such bad news, it was heartening to know that what 'Sense8' stood for meant so much to so many people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-j-smith/in-the-wake-of-such-bad-news-it-was-heartening-to-know-that-what/) [Brian J. Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-j-smith/) > [“I remember a man, a very lonely man, coming up to me at the end of a reading and looking into my face and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marie-howe/i-remember-a-man-a-very-lonely-man-coming-up-to-me-at-the-end-of-a/) [Marie Howe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marie-howe/) > [In the business world, bad news is usually good news - for somebody else.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-surowiecki/in-the-business-world-bad-news-is-usually-good-news-for-somebody-else/) [James Surowiecki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-surowiecki/) > [You never want to have to give your child bad news of any kind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-dee/you-never-want-to-have-to-give-your-child-bad-news-of-any-kind/) [Jonathan Dee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-dee/) > [If there's one thing you should know about me it's that I'm utterly unsuited for bureaucracy. I don't know my passwords to anything. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julio-torres/if-there-s-one-thing-you-should-know-about-me-it-s-that-i-m-utterly/) [Julio Torres](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julio-torres/) > [I seem to thrive by destroying the last thing I did, in a kind of cartoon Nietzsche way. Emerson says in "Experience" something like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-chiasson/i-seem-to-thrive-by-destroying-the-last-thing-i-did-in-a-kind-of/) [Dan Chiasson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-chiasson/) > [“The bad news is that, measured in terms of geologic time, if the Earth’s history is an accurate guide, glaciers will soon return to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-bernstein/the-bad-news-is-that-measured-in-terms-of-geologic-time-if-the-earth/) [Andrew Bernstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-bernstein/) > [I love an underdog. No, I don't necessarily mean the cartoon. 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You…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrei-codrescu/the-real-secret-though-is-that-nobody-belongs-whether-they-are/) [Andrei Codrescu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrei-codrescu/) [Browse all 691 Bad news quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bad-news/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“For years I’d been awaiting that overriding urge I’d always heard about, the narcotic pining that draws childless women ineluctably to strangers’ strollers in parks. I wanted to be drowned by the hormonal imperative, to wake one day and throw my arms around your neck, reach down for you, and pray that while that black flower bloomed behind my eyes you had just left me with child. (With child: There’s a lovely warm sound to that expression, an archaic but tender acknowledgement that for nine months you have company wherever you go. Pregnant, by contrast, is heavy and bulging and always sounds to my ear like bad news: “I’m pregnant.” I instinctively picture a sixteen-year-old at the dinner table- pale, unwell, with a scoundrel of a boyfriend- forcing herself to blurt out her mother’s deepest fear.) 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