infantophobia

Why this word is great

INFANTOPHOBIA — [Noun] The irrational fear of infants, pregnancy, or maternalism. From Latin infans ("young child," from in- "not" + fari "to speak") + -o- (connective vowel) + -phobia (from Greek -phobos, "fear"), it is the visceral recoil from the vulnerability and dependency of new life. Unlike infantophilia (which covets the scent of milk and the curl of tiny fingers) or tocophobia (which recoils solely from the mechanics of birth), infantophobia is a wider horror—the squall of a newborn like a siren, the swell of a belly as something parasitic, the suffocating archetype of motherhood as a trap. It flinches at the scent of talcum powder, the wail that pierces 3 a.m. silence, the weight of dependency in a gaze—proof that terror wears the softest skin. A quiet rebellion against the tyranny of the cradle.