Jennifer Aniston recently explained to Marie Claire why she decided to write her fiery op-ed for The Huffington Post in July on why a woman's worth shouldn't be tied to whether or not she has kids.

AP/Hahn Lionel - apimages.com

"The sheer amount of resources being spent right now by press trying to simply uncover whether or not I am pregnant (for the bajillionth time... but who’s counting) points to the perpetuation of this notion that women are somehow incomplete, unsuccessful, or unhappy if they’re not married with children," she wrote.

The actress explained in the December issue of the magazine what inspired her to write the piece.

She told Marie Claire that she wanted to call out this prevalent notion that women who don't have children should be pitied and that their lives are meaningless without motherhood. Aniston went on to add the following:

"My marital status has been shamed; my divorce status was shamed; my lack of a mate had been shamed; my nipples have been shamed. It's like, Why are we only looking at women through this particular lens of picking us apart? Why are we listening to it? I just thought: I have worked too hard in this life and this career to be whittled down to a sad, childless human."

But this issue is bigger than Jennifer Aniston. 

There are some women who experience success in both their careers and their relationships but sometimes they still may feel like they're being judged; as though those accomplishments aren't enough unless they also have children.

"Whatever we accomplish, the social pressure and expectation to become a mother stays heavy on our shoulders," wrote consultant and writer Kate Palbom for MarketWatch. "We see it in the media’s preoccupation with celebrities’ baby bumps, or in the movies whose plots culminate around pregnancy as the pinnacle of achievement."

The pregnancy rate continues to drop. 

The CDC reports "the pregnancy rate for U.S. women in 2009 was 102.1 per 1,000 women aged 15–44, the lowest level in 12 years." Furthermore, "rates for women under age 30 fell during 1990–2009 [...]" which suggests, for whatever reason, women aren't feeling the need to have kids. 

Ultimately, the decision to have a child should be a personal one, and women shouldn't be judged for it -- period.