Woman thanks Shonda Rhimes for breaking stereotypes with this 'Grey's Anatomy' character

Choosing to be childless is a personal decision, yet women who make this choice often face criticism and are questioned about their purpose without children. Jamea, known as @heyyitsjanea on X, expressed her gratitude to "Grey's Anatomy" creator Shonda Rhimes for crafting the character "Cristina Yang," who chose to be childfree—and was allowed to remain so throughout the entire series.

Jamea wrote, "Thank you, Shonda, for creating a child-free character and then having her remain child-free instead of making her have a weird epiphany where being a mother is what she wanted all along." She shared a picture of Sandra Oh, the actor who played Yang on the show for ten seasons. Yang's character was a talented surgeon who specialized in cardiothoracic. In one of the episodes, she told her husband, Owen Hunt, "I don't hate children. I think they should have parents who want them." In the show's plot, she became pregnant and wanted to abort the child. However, her husband wanted the kid and tried manipulating her to keep it.

Still, she managed to get an abortion and communicated to Hunt that it was the right choice. Later in the show, when her husband tried to get back at her for aborting the child, the makers made sure that it was conveyed to viewers that Hunt was wrong in doing so. So, it is fair to say that Shonda made sure that the character's choice to remain childless was shown in the right way. People in the comments also agreed with what Jamea said. @NurseNingenie commented, "When Meredith Grey said, 'I was raised by a Christina. My mother was Christina. Don't do that to her. She will hate that child and hate herself for having that baby...' I felt that."

@SoonerChey wrote, "I got so mad when she and Owen are in therapy and he's like, 'Why don't you want kids' and she's like, 'I just don't' and he's like, 'There has to be a reason.' No, there doesn't actually." @soyeee_ expressed, "That is exactly why she's my favorite TV character. She didn't 'hate' children. She didn't have a deep-rooted secret as to why she didn't want kids. She just didn't want children and that's perfectly normal." @mimihl0 shared, "Cristina is literally such an amazing character. Having an Asian American woman who's cool, outspoken, bossy and selfish as a main character in 2005 is so crazy to me."

In an interview with TV Guide, Rhimes said she coped with difficult times by writing Yang's character. "During my darkest hours, my quietest saddest moments, my loneliest times, writing Cristina Yang fortified me," she said. "I leaned into Cristina, wrote her more eloquently, colored her more brightly, drew outside her lines. Let her do and think and live in ways that voiced my dreams. She did not want to get married. She had a genius that she chased. She loved her work. I gave her a strident desire to not have children because while I adore children, I wanted to watch her fight that feminist battle and win," Rhimes explained.