#NoneOfYourBusiness Goes Viral: Facebook Post Blasting Unwanted Questions About Having Kids Strikes A Chord

If you see the hashtag #NoneOfYourBusiness on Facebook along with a picture of an ultrasound photo, you’re not alone.

The original post was made by a Michigan woman named Emily Bingham, who was fed up with questions about when she would be getting pregnant and having babies. It apparently struck a chord nationwide, with many people sharing the post themselves and the hashtag #NoneOfYourBusiness.

The original Facebook post was made last week, along with a generic picture of an ultrasound photo meant to catch the attention of people scrolling through their Facebook feed. It mimicked couples who share their happy news about pregnancies with friends and family on the social medium, but had a very different message.

“Hey everyone!!! Now that I got your attention with this RANDOM ULTRASOUND PHOTO I grabbed from a Google image search, this is just a friendly P.S.A. that people’s reproductive and procreative plans and decisions are none of your business. NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS. Before you ask the young married couple that has been together for seemingly forever when they are finally gonna start a family… before you ask the parents of an only-child toddler when a Little Brother or Little Sister will be in the works… before you ask a single 30-something if/when s/he plans on having children because, you know, clock’s ticking… just stop. Please stop.”

The post went on to say that those who put pressure on people to have children don’t know “who is struggling with infertility or grieving a miscarriage or dealing with health issues,” or even who may be privately having relationship problems that make having children impractical.

She added, “Bottom line: Whether you are a wanna-be grandparent or a well-intentioned friend or family member or a nosy neighbor, it’s absolutely none of your business.”

In an interview this weekend, Emily Bingham said she had no idea that #NoneOfYourBusiness would get so big so quickly.

Bingham said at 33, she was getting tired of probing questions about when she was going to have kids.

“I had had dinner with some of my boyfriend’s family, and someone had made a joke about grandkids, pointed at me, and it wasn’t the first time I’d had somebody make a comment like that,” Bingham told the Detroit Free Press. “I’m 33. I’ve never been married. I’ve had people say things like, ‘You’re getting older, do you want to have kids? Your clock is ticking.’

“I think I finally felt mad enough about it to say something,” added Bingham.

Bingham said she wasn’t just making the post out of anger for her own situation, but also to stand up for her friends in their 20s and 30s who face the same kind of questions from their own families. This also includes people who have decided not to have children for whatever reason, but may be keeping the decision private.

“It’s a sensitive topic,” she said. “People aren’t intending to be hurtful, but the questions can be insensitive and cause people grief.”

The fed-up 33-year-old may known a thing or two about how to make a message viral. A graduate of Michigan State University, Bingham works as a freelance journalist and social media consultant.

The #NoneOfYourBusiness Facebook post has gained worldwide attention as well. It has been shared 36,000 by people across the globe, and shared across the UK in outlets including the Globe and Daily Mail. Emily Bingham also has thousands of supportive messages for the “none of your business” message, and will also be taking it to a larger national audience, appearing on an upcoming segment of Good Morning America that was filmed over the weekend.

[Photos by Emily Bingham/Facebook]