I will never mock/insult anyone for being poor. Never. But if you think I’m mocking or insulting you—Change your fortunes. I’ve seen fortunes change overnight. I’ve seen people who had everything lose almost everything. And I’ve seen people rise from nothing. Being poor is not the problem. Dragging innocent children into poverty when you know you cannot provide their basic needs is where I have a huge problem. This has nothing to do with gender. But imagine being pregnant, struggling to feed yourself, paying for antenatal care, and still hustling like your life depends on it because the person who got you pregnant cannot even afford the necessities. And after that child is born, the suffering continues. Love is beautiful, but love will not pay hospital bills—Love will not buy eggs for your child’s brain. I am not saying you must be rich before having children. I’m saying you should have some reasonable means of taking care of the lives you are bringing into this world. And if you are currently struggling, it should be a compelling reason to work towards becoming better. Take this from someone who has seen both sides of life. Poverty is robbery. Poverty robs you of options. Poverty makes you tolerate nonsense you would ordinarily never accept. Poverty makes you apologise to people who should be apologising to you. Poverty teaches you fake humility because sometimes keeping quiet is the only way to survive. Poverty can make you angry, bitter, frustrated and abusive. Poverty keeps you in survival mode, where tomorrow is not even your biggest concern because you are still trying to survive today. Poverty can slowly destroy your health, your confidence, your relationships and your peace of mind. And one of the most painful things about poverty is watching someone you love suffer because you cannot afford to help them. I have been there. I know what it means to have limited options. But I refuse to romanticise suffering. There is no special honour in being unable to afford the basic necessities of life. And there is certainly no achievement in bringing children into the world simply to inherit struggles they never signed up for. If your circumstances are difficult today, it doesn’t mean they must remain that way forever. Fortunes change. People grow. Opportunities come. But while you are working towards a better life, please understand that having children is not a competition. You can choose to endure hardship for yourself. An innocent child never had that choice.