M Thomas Apple Author Page

Li Jiaying, a 43-year-old police officer and mother of three, serves as the payload scientist in the three-member crew who made their way to China’s Tiangong space station on Sunday night.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn7p87r56mgo

Congratulations to her!

But is it really important that she is a “mother of three”? I never see anything about male astronauts being a “father of three.”

Presumably she got sent into space because she qualified for the job, not because she has three children. Sexist reporting like this has to stop.