Matthey 24:19 " And woe to the pregnant woman and those suckling a baby in those days "
JW's have taught for 100+ years that we are living in the time of the end and have quoted Matthew 24:19 over and over in their literature and from the platform. They constantly held up as an example to all, anyone who has entered the full time preaching work and has intentionally forgone having a family due to the nearness of the end.
My mother became unintentionally pregnant with my youngest sister in 1969. The 1975 fever was in full rage and as someone with an unbelieving mate, she was already dreading how she was going to get the rest of us kids through the much touted "great tribulation" on her own . In those days, they used to say that unbelieving mates may turn on their JW spouses and turn them in to the authorities.
I remember a carload of Sisters out in Field Service stopping by our house to use the bathroom. My poor Mother told them the news that she was pregnant and they began talking about the nearness of the end. One sister quoted Matthew's warning of woe, to those suckling a baby etc. I was only 12 at the time but I remember how visibly shaken she was by this and I wanted to smack this one particular sister in the mouth. By the time my father came home that evening Mom was in full panic mode and he had to talk her down off the ceiling. He told her not to listen to those silly women and he assured her that everything would be fine and that he would take care of us no matter what.
My mother and father are gone now and my youngest Sister is 48 and just became a grandmother. My Mother often said in later years that she wished that she would have been able to enjoy and appreciate her last pregnancy instead of worrying so much about Armageddon through the whole thing.
I can only imagine how helpless and trapped Mom and must have felt and to this day it saddens and angers me every time I think of that day and those sisters who frightened her to death instead of comforting her. By the way, I also think about how glad I am that my sister was born....can't imagine not having not grown up without her in our family.