Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield met a woman who was sterilised at 31 to save the planet during Monday’s This Morning.
Gwynn Mackellen said she believes it’s “selfish” to have children and she wants other people to follow in her carbon-free footsteps.
But mother-of-three Holly, 37, didn’t understand Gwynn’s way of thinking and asked why having children is so harmful to the planet.
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The presenter asked: “I have three children. What have I unleashed onto the planet that is going to be so detrimental?”
Gwynn replied: “There’s a recent study that found that having one fewer child is more than 2000 times more impactful in greenhouse gas reduction than recycling.
“All the other choices you can make are very small in comparison. Once you create that person they have their own effects and they may have offspring.
“It’s not about not having kids it’s the impact of people.”
But Phil pointed out: “They might grow up to be one of the world’s greatest environmentalists.”
Gwynn replied: “That’s true but there’s not usually one magical person that’s going to save the day.”
Phil asked Gwynn: “I’m a parent, Holly’s a parent, are we selfish?”
Gywnn responded: “I can’t make that judgement for you, I don’t want to judge anyone else.”
Phil interrupted: “Yes you can.”
Gynn continued: “For me, I would feel bad bringing another person into the world.”
Phil asked Gwynn if she feels guilty about her own existence.
Gwynn said: “I didn’t ask to be born so it’s not something I caused.
“So no, I don’t feel that way but I feel responsible in making sure any negative impact I have ends with me.”
In the chat, Holly asked Gwynn: “Although you may have the recycling impact and CO2 emissions, it’s hard to quantify that against the love that you feel for a child and that they would give to you.”
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Gwynn pointed out there are other ways people can have children in their life, like fostering and adoption.
Gwynn said she started to consider getting sterilised when she was in her 20s and asked every partner she had to get a vasectomy.
She revealed: “My current partner said if it’s so important why don’t you do it yourself.
“I started looking into that and took many years to find a doctor. It was a difficult process.”
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