The idea that maternal instinct compels every mother to love her baby is a dangerous assumption, as it causes immeasurable guilt on those occasions when something gets in the way.
In fact, the caregiving system is both fallible and fragile. Many adverse influences can impinge below the level of awareness, and their cumulative effect may sabotage the relationship between mother and baby. I've worked with many such situations and have found it helpful to think in evolutionary terms. From this perspective we all make unconscious decisions that in our natural environment would have led to reproductive success.
Hidden in our minds is the emotional legacy and decision-making equipment of parents who had to ensure that at least one child made it to reproduce.
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