Brooke Eden Says Mass Shootings Made Her Question Having Kids

As a queer family, Brooke Eden and her wife Hilary Hoover have faced some additional roadblocks on their journey to family planning. The couple are definitely hoping to be parents — they've even begun the process of freezing their eggs so they're ready to pursue in vitro fertilization (IVF) when the time is right.

However, Eden says that she and Hoover had to think long and hard about whether it was the decision for them to bring children into the world, given the high incidence of mass shootings in the U.S., and specifically, in U.S schools.

"I think we'll figure out how to have babies, and all that stuff, but as far as people walking into classrooms with AR-15s? Yeah, that's terrifying," the singer tells Taste of Country. "We've thought about World School, different options, because if there is one thing holding us back — we literally had conversations on, 'Do we have children?' because of this."

Since the couple live in Tennessee — a state with restricted abortion access laws — there were other political issues that made them hesitant as they contemplated the process of expanding their family.

"This has changed since, but when Roe v. Wade got overturned, there was a point where if you had a miscarriage [that required medical intervention,] they wouldn't be able to save you in the state of Tennessee," Eden continues. "So we had to think about, like, 'Do we move to California for the nine months of pregnancy? It's crazy to have to think about those things, as a parent living in a red state. All of that definitely affected even deciding if we wanna bring kids into a world like this."

And that's not even considering the hurdles that Eden and Hoover would face if they decided to adopt a child instead of conceiving one through IVF.

"The state of Tennessee makes it really difficult for same-sex couples to adopt," the singer adds. "And also, like, if you're religiously affiliated at all, as an adoption company, you can completely discriminate against LGBTQ+ couples. So yeah, that would be really hard."