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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
Lifestyle
Kate Leaver

I’ve decided motherhood is not for me. But being an auntie? It’s what I was born to do

Bonnie
A woman and two girls walk down a suburban street in warm afternoon sunlight
‘I have tried to keep every pebble, drawing or glitter unicorn sticker they have ever given me.’ Photograph: Louise Beaumont/Getty Images

“She doesn’t have kids!” My littlest niece, Bonnie, said to my sister one day about me.

“That’s why she has so much time to love you,” my sister said. Bonnie did some deep, earnest thinking, as toddlers do when they’re really considering something. Then she nodded, as if to say: yes, that is an extremely valid choice. If only everyone understood so easily.

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