A taboo will linger until someone writes lyrically enough to destroy it. Here, sixteen writers finally say what women are never supposed to but what we all know is true: pregnancy seems terrifying, birth even more so, baby lust passes, and, just as with men, work, creativity, and love affairs can crowd out everything else. Also, who really cares about getting a Mother's Day card? My three children are of course perfect in every way and yet, the longer I am a mother, the more it's obvious to me that it's not for everyone. Any woman who shares that instinct: Ignore your grandmother. Read this instead.--Hanna Rosin, author of The End of Men: And the Rise of Women

MEGHAN DAUM is the author of four books, most recently "The Unspeakable...And Other Subjects of Discussion," published in 2014 by FSG. Her other books include the essay collection "My Misspent Youth," the novel "The Quality of Life Report," and "Life Would Be Perfect If I Lived In That House," a memoir. An opinion columnist for "Los Angeles Times" for nearly a decade, Meghan has written for "The New Yorker," "Harper's," "Elle," and "Vogue," among other publications. She lives in Los Angeles.