Family Planning

"Miss, what are you talking about?" Ji-Ho asks Ms. Flor, the school secretary, at lunch. She is sitting with me and 2 other teachers. 3 of us are married; none of us have kids.
"babies" she calmly replies.
"NOT OURS!!!" I practically scream at the unsuspecting student before he can ask another question.
The other teachers look at me strangely.
I alone seem to see what would otherwise have happened next - over the weekend the news that the 3 married childless teachers were talking about babies would become a huge story about how we're all pregnant with quintuplets and we're all due at the same time and so none of us are coming back to teach next year.

We were talking about our nieces and nephews. And our sisters' and sisters-in-law's pregnancies, deliveries, and babies.

Also, about when was the right time to have babies, as none of us have yet felt that the right time has yet happened for us.

This brought up a nice comparison of Mexican vs. American family values:

In mexico, most women have their babies between the ages of 20-25, whether they're married or not. If they are married, and stay married to the same guy, they'll finish having babies then. If they are poor, they will likely live with a series of men during their 20s and 30s, often getting pregnant by each of them.
So, the Mexican ladies shared, as soon as they're about 16, their family, friends, neighbors, co-workers, church acquaintances, etc. start asking when they will have a boyfriend (as if the timing was completely arbitrary and merely required picking one out of a catalog), once they have a boyfriend, or if they're over 21, they will routinely be asked when they will have a husband (again, as if the timing was predictable) and as soon as they're married, they'll be asked whether they are pregnant and if not when they are planning to start having babies.
Being my age - 28 - and being married for as long as I have been - 5 years - makes me a prime candidate for the pregnancy question.
"When are you having a baby?" This question has relatively little to do with whether or not someone thinks I look pregnant. Mexico does not have a Spanish version of "when are you due?" Just, "when are you giving birth?" The subtle difference means that the question can be asked whether I'm currently pregnant-looking or not. It's actually a compliment here.

The Mexican women were confused, and then shocked, to hear that it is very VERY rude in the U.S. to ask a woman if she's pregnant. Claire, a fellow teacher and a North American, tried to explain that asking a non-pregnant woman if she was pregnant made her feel fat. The Mexican women didn't understand why asking a married woman if she was pregnant could feel intrusive.

They also think that asking someone how much money they make is water-cooler small talk, so clearly the U.S. & Mexico have some different opinions on what is "private" information.