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You want a career? Do that first. You don't want to have kids? Then don't. You don't want to get married? Then don't. But once you do something, you've got to know that there is compromise.

I want to work, but being a mom is my No. 1 priority.

Is it harder having kids and working? It definitely is, but the payoff is you get to go home to your kids, and it all balances out. And I know I'm a better mother when I'm engaged in something outside of the house.

My mum told me, 'At that moment when you know you can't do both, the marriage and the kids, choose the marriage because you're going to be spending your whole lives together, so you have to put a lot of work and attention into the relationship.'

I would rather be a fairly happy wife and mother.

A big part of being in a relationship or marriage or whatever is you have to eventually compromise. Your life doesn't end up exactly the way you think it's going to, and if it's the right relationship, you might have to compromise what you're doing professionally.

Choosing to mother your kids full-time may seem to some the easy choice, eschewing as it does the stresses and strains of the workplace, but one of the continuing frustrations for women is the lack of respect they get for taking on the responsibility for domestic life, whether they're also working outside the home or not.

My family didn't have a lot of money, so I worked my heart out to get my degrees. But the minute I graduated, suddenly everyone was asking me, 'Well, when are you going to get married and start having kids?' And the truth is I had no idea how I would balance the expected role of wife and mother with a challenging career.

I'm a better mother if I'm also doing my work. Some women find a lot more satisfaction from doing the hardest job, which is being a mom. But I like my day job, so I juggle a lot.