Becoming vegan for me seemed to come naturally, from around the age of 12 eating animals flesh seemed a bit weird and wrong to me so I went pescatarian. I stayed pescatarian for years believing “I was doing my bit” and a complete animal lover – which I am. I got involved with animal rights in my late teens but unfortunately our local group fizzled out due to opening of Glaxo in Stevenage and the injunction they got against animal rights activists, also, there were not so many people with mobile phones and emails in the early 1990s so I lost contact with the older animal rights activists.
So I wasn’t very involved in activism for the next 10 years but remained a Ppscatarian, and stood up for the animals when they came across my path, saving hedgehogs, stray dogs, that sort of thing. I also met my husband, and had a daughter in 1997, so that kept me busy. In September 2008, I began a three-year diploma on yoga teaching, which began to make me look at the concept of a more compassionate, non-violent way of life and animal rights . Also during the course, in May 2009, I found out I was three months pregnant with my second child and for some strange reason I seemed to naturally become more interested in veganism. Now I know pregnancy makes you more sensitive but I do firmly believe that I was being guided into going vegan by my unborn child. I believe in reincarnation and karma and maybe, just maybe my unborn child was sending me messages to stop eating animal products? Who knowsM
Anyway, in June 2009 I went along to the local vegan group’s summer picnic, looking back I don’t even really know why I went? maybe again I was just “guided there”, I was not intending to go vegan at that point because I was four months pregnant and like most brainwashed people I had that “belief” that we need the dairy for calcium, protein etc., especially when pregnant!
That day, after taking home some literature on the cruel dairy industry and chicken farms, I was horrified and went vegan right away – it really was that natural for me and that quick. It was natural for me as I didn’t want any part in this cruel trade no more. I had the most wonderful healthy pregnancy and stayed fit and strong and energetic throughout, I was teaching exercise classes and really felt grounded and connected to my baby. Even the midwives and heath professionals commented on how well I was doing and coping. Other pregnant mums were being diagnosed with iron deficiencies and loads of other stuff, constipation and exhaustion and all sorts, I was doing great and loved being a vegan mum-to-be – some people were horrified to find out I was vegan, some interested and some really shocked to find out my baby was going to be “made to be” vegan”, too. My baby (Ben) is now nearly two years old and I’ve raised him vegan, he’s strong, energetic and very “normal”. I just wish I’d gone vegan years ago! And brought up my teenage daughter as a vegan, too. She’s a pescatarian, but I’m working on it!
