Abstract
This paper attempts to understand and explains the intersection of reproductive and motherhood choices among educated working and non-working married women in India. The choices women pick in realm of sociological, cultural and religious controls have been largely silenced in literature.
 This phenomenological study looks into lives of 20 married educated Indian women and their reproductive and motherhood choices. With the help of semi-structured questionnaire, 20 women, predominantly educated middle class women, have been interviewed. A thematic analysis using a grounded approach has been used to analyse the qualitative data obtained from these 20 women. Two dominant themes emerged in the systematic qualitative review. Among educated working women, voices of career goals, self-accomplishments, and career promotions were the major theme manifested while exercising their reproduction choice. On the other hand, theme emerged among educated non-working mothers were enhancement in social influence, stability and social pressure. Study revealed the stress and social tensions embedded in exercising reproductive choice con-joined with family influences, economic priorities, career and biological clock urge.
 The study further describes how increase in technological advancements and modernism has not affected largely sphere of women reproductive choices and changed social perception of motherhood; rather complicated dilemmas for her.
Highlights
When discriminating between the human world and the inanimate world, a central role is played by the fact that the sequences in which people interact are fragmentary: each person supplies part of the total behaviour—the child reaches up and the adult wraps him/her in an embrace— while the instrumental behaviour with objects always implies performing a complete sequence
The first symbols of infant are embedded in action and interaction; the first gendered expression of an infant is that of mummy and daddy, with further examples of baby girl playing with dolls while baby boy entertaining him with cars. These differential representations expressed in symbolic games signify interaction sequences, which are passed from one generation to another; contributing in preparing the foundation of societal attitudes and perspectives on motherhood
Millar establishes the effects of motherhood timing on female career path
Summary
When discriminating between the human world and the inanimate world, a central role is played by the fact that the sequences in which people interact are fragmentary: each person supplies part of the total behaviour—the child reaches up and the adult wraps him/her in an embrace— while the instrumental behaviour with objects always implies performing a complete sequence This “completeness” feature in the experiences with objects and the “incompleteness” feature in the case of personal interactions foster the development of two different kinds of symbolization processes, one based in action schemes and the other in interaction patterns (Wolf & Gardner, 1981) Femininity or masculinity of a person is a result of intersubjectivity and interplay of attitudes and societal idealization. These differential representations expressed in symbolic games signify interaction sequences, which are passed from one generation to another; contributing in preparing the foundation of societal attitudes and perspectives on motherhood
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