“The natural disorder of things” by Camille Beauchamp: putting an end to motherhood

DAY

For her very first novel, The Natural Disorder of Things, Camille Beauchamp has chosen to explore an unknown reality in society: that of a young woman who learns that she will not have children. This delicate subject, still taboo, arouses strong reactions. The author describes the impact on the personal level and in the entourage of her heroine, Sophie, a 27-year-old woman who is diagnosed with an anomaly of the ovaries.

Sophie, at 27, learns that she will never be able to have children. This news forces her to assume that she will not become a mother. The consequences are heavy in her life: she faces a separation, a move and has to question her dreams and her plans for the future.

Sophie decides to volunteer in a residence for people elderly. She meets Irene, a talkative octogenarian, and Zachary, a recreation technician. Little by little, she will shed light on her doubts and insecurities and learn to carve out a place for herself, outside the natural order of things.

When things don't go as planned…

The desire to write this story was born when Camille and her partner started trying to have a child. “It was not working at the pace of all the others around us,” she reveals, in a telephone interview. 

“I am an anxious person in life, so I tend to analyze all possible scenarios and often focus on the worst. I started projecting myself into a reality where I couldn't conceive and thinking about what impact that might have on my personal life.”

She began by addressing the subject from a personal view, then extended it to those around him. “I have a friend who does not want children, it has been clear for several years that she does not want them. I talked to her about her reality and put it all together to do something less personal and make a story out of it.”

“I found that these women who decide not to have children are poorly represented in culture, in the current media, so I wanted to make room for them. I wanted their story to be valid, to have a place in the Quebec landscape.”

Uncomfortable

Camille Beauchamp talks about the impact psychology of diagnosis. “There is social pressure to have children and start a family. But there is also all the pressure to put on a label, to meet expectations. Sophie is often asked if she wants children. She has to justify her choice much more than someone who says: “Yes, I want some”.

The fact that there are women who do not want children causes discomfort, she adds. “There is a misunderstanding. It comes to redefine the role of a woman in society and there are people for whom it is confronting. Sophie's story is a mixture of the testimonies of several people.” 

♦ Camille Beauchamp is a graduate in communication and social work.