Want to learn more about all things childfree?
This is your treasure trove!
If you think something is missing from the list let us know by sending us a message HERE.
All summaries are taken from other sources and are not the opinion(s) of Childfree Family.
Looking for a Book Club? We'll list childfree ones here as we find them!
Books about the Childfree Lifestyle
Portraits of Childfree Wealth
by Dr. Jay Zigmont
CLICK FOR SYNOPSIS
by Dr. Jay Zigmont
CLICK FOR SYNOPSIS
Have you ever wondered what people without children do with all their free time and money? Do you assume that they must have a lot of both? The truth is more complex than that! Childfree people come from as many different backgrounds and life circumstances as people with children do. Some are partnered, and some are not. Some are well-educated, some aren’t. Some are independently wealthy, and some are just scraping by. Dr. Zigmont’s “Portraits of Childfree Wealth” is a collection of 26 vignettes based on interviews with Childfree people. He adds his own significant insights, as both a fellow Childfree professional and a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™. This book is an eye-opening look at the lives of people in the United States who deliberately chose not to become parents, and if you’re in the same boat, you’ll find a lot to relate to here. If you have children, you’ll learn how the other half lives. And if you’re a finance professional, you’ll see how money still plays a role for people who don’t have to worry about leaving assets to their children.
Childfree individuals are an underrepresented, and misunderstood, minority group in the US. While 11% of the US over 55 are Childfree, the financial and popular literature has very little to say about what it means to live a life of Childfree Wealth. Even within the Childfree community, there is very little about how choosing a Childfree lifestyle impacts your life, wealth, and finances.
In Portraits of Childfree Wealth, Dr. Jay Zigmont, CFP®, interviews 26 individuals and couples to understand their lives. Each portrait provides a different perspective on Childfree Wealth from a diverse population across the US. There are stories from people who are barely making ends meet and others who have achieved FIRE (Financial Independence, Retire Early) or FILE (Financial Independence, Live Early). Being Childfree does not automatically make people rich, as we still suffer from income disparities. The difference is that if a Childfree person is barely making ends meet now, they would have drowned if they had a child.
Some key findings:
•The reasons for being Childfree are as varied as the people themselves.
•There are very few or no regrets from people being Childfree.
•Being Childfree does not automatically make you rich.
•There is a relationship between growing up in poverty and poor and being Childfree.
•COVID had an impact.
•Childfree Financial Independence is simple: 1. Got out of debt (and stayed out), and 2. Maxed out their retirement plans.
•Childfree people may prefer FILE over FIRE.
•Childfree people may be able to take turns growing and providing support (in a Gardener and the Rose approach).
•Childfree Wealth reflects the ability to have the Time, Money, and Freedom to achieve your goals and dreams. While each person might have put those in a different order, the bottom line is that being Childfree allows you all three.
I'd Rather Get A Cat And Save The Planet: Conversations with Child-free Women
by Nina Jervis
CLICK FOR SYNOPSIS
by Nina Jervis
CLICK FOR SYNOPSIS
“I’ve often wanted to read something more light-hearted and upbeat about being child-free; something that reflects the fact that choosing not to have children is as natural and normal as choosing to have them. Something that’s just about the joys, ups and downs of child-free-ness.”Join Nina Jervis and her irreverent band of party guests, as they take a warm, witty, and searingly honest look at the oft-unspoken “me too!” moments of being child-free. No subject is safe, from media portrayals and workplace drama, to friendship struggles and awkward family events.
The Baby Boon: How Family-Friendly America Cheats the Childless
by Elinor Burkett
CLICK FOR SYNOPSIS
by Elinor Burkett
CLICK FOR SYNOPSIS
“Equal Pay for Equal Work” is one of the foundations of modern American work life. But workers without children do not reap the same rewards as do their colleagues who are parents. Instead, as veteran journalist Elinor Burkett reveals, the past decade has seen the most massive redistribution of wealth since the War on Poverty – this time not from rich to poor but from nonparents, no matter how modest their means, to parents, no matter how affluent. Parents today want their child and their Lexus, too – which accounts for the new culture of parental privilege that Burkett aptly calls “the baby boon.”
Burkett reports from the front lines of the work-place: from the hallowed newsroom of The New York Times to the floor of a textile factory in North Carolina to a hospital in Boston. She exposes a simmering backlash against perks for parents, from workers who are losing their tempers and fighting for their rights. She spells out how tax breaks for families with six-figure incomes are not available to childless people earning half as much. And she tells the dramatic story of how pro-family conservatives and feminists became strange bedfellows on the issue of pro-family rights, leading to an increase in workplace and government entitlement for parents – at the same time as the childless poor lost their public benefits.
Armed with hard data and grassroots reporting, Elinor Burkett points the way to a more equitable future. With an inside look at what some companies are already doing to redress the grievances of childless workers and a hard assessment of what the truly needy – children and adults – require in order to survive, Burkett fires the first shot in the battle to come.
The Baby Matrix: Why Freeing Our Minds From Outmoded Thinking About Parenthood & Reproduction Will Create a Better World
by Laura Carroll
CLICK FOR SYNOPSIS
by Laura Carroll
CLICK FOR SYNOPSIS
In the movie The Matrix, the character Morpheus offers two pills to Neo—if he takes the blue pill, he will go on with life as he has before, believing what he has always believed. If he takes the red pill, he will find out what the “matrix” really is, and many of his earlier beliefs will be shattered. When it comes to taking a hard look at a specific set of beliefs about parenthood and reproduction that has driven our society for generations, The Baby Matrix is the red pill.We commonly think our desire to have children boils down to our biological wiring, but author Laura Carroll says it’s much more than that. Unlike other books on parenthood, The Baby Matrix: Why Freeing Our Minds From Outmoded Thinking About Parenthood & Reproduction Will Create a Better World takes a serious look at powerful social and cultural influences that drive the desire for the parenthood experience, and lays out why we need to be very aware of these influences to make the most informed decisions about parenthood.The Baby Matrix looks at long-held beliefs about parenthood and reproduction, and unravels why we believe what we believe. It lays out: -the historical origins of beliefs about parenthood and reproduction-why many of these beliefs no longer work for society or were never true in the first place-why we continue to believe them anyway-the prices society pays as a result The Baby Matrix shows us how we got here, brings to light what is true, which includes knowing about the powerful influence of “pronatalism,” and explains why society can no longer afford to leave pronatalism unquestioned. “This is not a book about convincing people not to have children,” says Carroll. “I want people to be very aware of the long-held social and cultural pressures, and be able to free themselves from those pressures when making parenthood choices. This will result in more people making the best decisions for themselves, will foster a society in which those who are best suited to become parents are the ones who have children and one that knows what it means to bring a child into the world today.”This book will make you examine your own intentions and beliefs, will rile you, and might just change your mind. Whether you are already a parent, want to become a parent, are still making up your mind, or know you don’t want children, you’ll never think about parenthood in the same way. The Baby Matrix is a must-read for anyone interested in psychology, sociology, anthropology, parenting issues, environmentalism, and social justice. But most of all, it’s for anyone, parent or not, who reveres the truth and wants the best for themselves, their families, and our world.
Baby Not on Board: A Celebration of Life without Kids Kindle Edition
by Jennifer L. Shawne
CLICK FOR SYNOPSIS
by Jennifer L. Shawne
CLICK FOR SYNOPSIS
For anyone who’s wondered, “Why have kids when I could have fun instead?” here’s a warm and hilarious welcome to the wonderful world of unparenting! The childfree life is growing in popularity, and finally here is a book that celebrates the wisdom and wonder of that choice. For those who cherish their white shag carpet and glass coffee table, this highly interactive book with quizzes, sidebars, and handy checklists offers a range of helpful, unparenting information including ways to throw oneself an unbaby shower and strategies for coping with dreaded OPCs (other people’s children). Baby Not on Board reminds us all that having a baby is great, but NOT having a baby is really, really great.
The Baby Trap
by Ellen Peck
CLICK FOR SYNOPSIS
by Ellen Peck
CLICK FOR SYNOPSIS
Published in 1971 – This was one of the earliest books to advocate that being childfree was a valid option for a woman. Of course, back in 1971 there was no such word as childfree – she calls it being ‘voluntary childless’. Some of her reasons include overpopulation, available resources for babies and children, and the state of marriage. But being written back then also means lots of stereotypes that would be considered sexist today. For example, one advantage of being childless is having more time for “pleasing your husband.”
Cheerfully Childless: The Humor Book for Those Who Hesitate to Procreate
by Ellen Metter
CLICK FOR SYNOPSIS
by Ellen Metter
CLICK FOR SYNOPSIS
Cheerfully Childless was created by Ellen Metter and Loretta Gomez to bring cheer to those leaning toward a childfree life in a society fond of the four R’s: Reading, ‘Riting, ‘Rithmetic, and Reproduction.
Do you have pals who think any children in the home should have names like Frisky and Scout? Or perhaps Dirty Martini? They’ll love this affirming and thoughtful gift.
This cartoon-filled little book was the first (yeah! it’s in a Harvard library, ok?) full-length book to be published on the topic of choosing to be childfree. And lintfree. Generally.
Childfree and Loving It!
by Nicki Defago
CLICK FOR SYNOPSIS
by Nicki Defago
CLICK FOR SYNOPSIS
Recording the opinions of childless women from all over the world and letting this growing band answer their detractors, this investigation looks into the world of those who choose not to have children. Interviewees speak freely and honestly about their experiences, providing readers with both the many reasons people choose to live child-free and insight into what seems to them an unhealthy amount of societal pressure to become mothers and fathers. This book also presents interviews with parents who wish they had not had children while offering their reasons for feeling regret. Concluding with a look into the workplace, this title evaluates the fairness of allowing parents shorter days and time off to accommodate children, compared to the working environment of those who have chosen to live without children.
Childfree and Sterilized: Women's Decisions and Medical Responses
by Annily Campbell
CLICK FOR SYNOPSIS
by Annily Campbell
CLICK FOR SYNOPSIS
Examines the social phenomena in the West and the “developed” countries of the world, that of women’s elective sterilization. The study identifies that a minority of women choose not to become mothers, opting for voluntary sterilization in order to remain childfree. A number of issues relating to choice in contraception and women choosing to be sterilized are explored from feminist and sociological perspectives, using feminist research techniques based on oral and written histories. The 25 women who are the participants in the study reveal the struggles they faced, not only in being women without children in a society which expects women to be mothers, but also in overcoming the many barriers encountered on the way to voluntary sterilization.
Childfree by Choice: The Movement Redefining Family and Creating a New Age of Independence
by Dr. Amy Blackstone
CLICK FOR SYNOPSIS
by Dr. Amy Blackstone
CLICK FOR SYNOPSIS
As a childfree woman, Dr. Amy Blackstone is no stranger to a wide range of negative responses when she informs people she doesn’t have–nor does she want–kids: confused looks, patronizing quips, thinly veiled pity, even outright scorn and condemnation. But she is not alone in opting out when it comes to children. More people than ever are choosing to forgo parenthood, and openly discussing a choice that’s still often perceived as taboo. Yet this choice, and its effects personally and culturally, are still often misunderstood.
Amy Blackstone, a professor of sociology, has been studying the childfree choice since 2008, a choice she and her husband had already confidently and happily made. Using her own and others’ research as well as her personal experience, Blackstone delves into the childfree movement from its conception to today, exploring gender, race, sexual orientation, politics, environmentalism, and feminism, as she strips away the misconceptions surrounding non-parents and reveals the still radical notion that support of the childfree can lead to better lives and societies for all.
Childfree Girls' Comfort Food for Thought
by Isabel Firecracker (Author), Kristen Tsetsi (Author), LeNora Faye (Author)
CLICK FOR SYNOPSIS
by Isabel Firecracker (Author), Kristen Tsetsi (Author), LeNora Faye (Author)
CLICK FOR SYNOPSIS
Childfree Girls’ COMFORT FOOD FOR THOUGHT features over 100 humorous, pointed, motivational, inspirational, and comforting thoughts, facts, and responses to “bingos,” as well as some of the Childfree Girls’ favorite memes from their Instagram account. And what would a book with “comfort food” in the title be without a few bonus comfort-food recipes? (Supplied by LeNora, a prolific home cook who, from Canada, makes stomachs rumble all the way in Colombia (Isabel) and the US (Kristen).)
A Childfree Happily Ever After: Why more women are choosing not to have children
by Tanya Williams
CLICK FOR SYNOPSIS
by Tanya Williams
CLICK FOR SYNOPSIS
In A Childfree Happily Ever After, entrepreneur, fur-parent and childfree advocate Tanya Williams dives deep into the reasons why women choose to have or not to have children, including the social, cultural and biological factors that influence our decisions.
Just some of the topics this book covers include:
How young girls are raised to become mothers.
The social and cultural pressures facing women when it comes to motherhood.
The myth of the ticking biological clock.
What the blokes think (yes, it takes two to tango!).
How to find your own path to fulfillment.
A Childfree Happily Ever After brings the childfree conversation to life, lifts the veil on how childfree women are treated in society, and shares true stories of women from all walks of life.
If you are childfree or unsure if you want to have children, this book will help you to respond to the judgement, find your voice and make a decision that’s right for you.
The Childless Revolution: What It Means to Be Childless Today
by Madelyn Cain
CLICK FOR SYNOPSIS
by Madelyn Cain
CLICK FOR SYNOPSIS
The founder of the ChildFree Network, a national support group for childless adults, offers an insightful exploration of parenting and not parenting, filled with questions, answers, statistics, interviews, anecdotes, and issues for those deciding whether or not to have children.
<br>
<br>
To have or not to have children is one of the most important decisions any of us will ever make. The fact that many American households today do not include children has dramatically changed the way we all live–but not necessarily the way we all think. In Why Don’t You Have Kids? strips away the myths surrounding childfree living and discusses what is truly involved in choosing to parent or not to parent. Drawing on the experiences of parenting and non-parenting adults and on social, spiritual, and psychological perspectives, Lafayette examines the issue from both female and male points of view, offering a balanced and thoroughly researched guide to this complex and intensely personal life-choice.
The Chosen Lives of Childfree Men
by Patricia W. Lunneborg
CLICK FOR SYNOPSIS
by Patricia W. Lunneborg
CLICK FOR SYNOPSIS
More and more couples are choosing not to have children. While much attention has been paid to this trend from a woman’s point of view, men are often seen as having a secondary role in this choice, as ready to accept whatever their partners decide. In an age when men are expected to be caregivers as well as breadwinners and encouraged to take on more parental responsibilities, this volume argues that they need to be active participants in this crucial, life-altering decision. Based on in-depth interviews with 30 American and British childless men, this is the first book to explore the motives and consequences of voluntary childlessness from a man’s perspective.
The interviewees explain the reasons for their choice and explore its impact on their freedom, relationships, job opportunities, and finances. They also discuss their mixed feelings, their family background, and their concern over the world’s ever-growing population. The picture that emerges challenges the stereotype of men who decide against parenthood as immature, selfish, and irresponsible. Although each man provides several reasons, the author identifies nine main types of childfree men, including workaholics, lifelong learners, early retirees, stress reducers, and men who don’t want to repeat the mistakes of their parents.
Complete Without Kids: An Insider's Guide to Childfree Living by Choice or by Chance
by Ellen L. Walker
CLICK FOR SYNOPSIS
by Ellen L. Walker
CLICK FOR SYNOPSIS
In Complete Without Kids, Licensed Clinical Psychologist Ellen L. Walker examines the often-ignored question of what it means to be childfree, by choice or by circumstance, in a family-focused society. Recognizing that there is no one childfree adult, the author guides the reader through the positive and negative aspects of childfree living, taking into consideration the different issues faced by men or women, couples or singles, whether gay or straight. As a woman who is childfree by choice, Walker draws upon her personal experience while also offering the reader numerous interviews with other childfree adults, revealing behind-the-scenes factors that influenced their personal journeys. She approaches the tough-decision making process of whether or not to have children from a biological, historical, and societal perspective, offering valuable information on: The unique set of problems that childfree adults face simply due to living in a culture that celebrates babies and traditional families; Methods to cope with the pressure to have children from media, family, and friends in a healthy way; How to create balance and approach the leisure time allowed by a childfree lifestyle and; Financial, health, and personal benefits associated with childfree living. Offering support, guidance, and thought-provoking questions, Complete Without Kids is a productive guide for any reader considering the childfree path.
Confessions of a Childfree Woman: A Life Spent Swimming Against the Mainstream
by Marcia Drut-Davis
CLICK FOR SYNOPSIS
by Marcia Drut-Davis
CLICK FOR SYNOPSIS
After declaring on 60 Minutes her desire to never have children, Marcia Drut-Davis was fired from her teaching job and began receiving death threats from outraged Americans. Now, in her stirring new memoir Confessions of a Childfree Woman, Drut-Davis tells the story behind that national TV appearance and recounts the painful aftermath.
Along the way, Drut-Davis exposes and explores our culture’s rampant pronatalism and the stigma we continue to attach to childless women. By taking us deep into her own life and the emotions—positive and negative—surrounding her bold choice, Drut-Davis lays bare our society’s myth that true fulfillment and happiness can come only through procreation.
Reflecting on her 70 years, Drut-Davis takes a fair look at what she’s lost by not having children, but her focus always returns to all she has gained: a life lived with no regrets.
Do You Have Kids?: Life When the Answer Is No
by Kate Kaufmann
CLICK FOR SYNOPSIS
by Kate Kaufmann
CLICK FOR SYNOPSIS
A savvy and validating guide to what might be in store for growing numbers of childfree and childless adults worldwide, Do You Have Kids? Life When the Answer is No takes on topics from the shifting meaning of family to what we leave behind when we die. Weaving together wisdom from women ages twenty-four to ninety-one with both her own story and a growing body of research, Kate brings to light alternate routes to lives of meaning, connection, and joy.
Families of Two: Interviews with Happily Married Couples Without Children by Choice
by Laura Carroll
CLICK FOR SYNOPSIS
by Laura Carroll
CLICK FOR SYNOPSIS
Families of Two: Interviews with Happily Married Couples Without Children by Choice, takes us into the lives of the growing number of couples who arechoosing not to have children, and dispels the myths commonly associated with this choice. Families of Two provides insight for coupleswho are deciding whether to have children, and to friends and family ofcouples who have chosen or may choose not to have children. Itcelebrates the many people who are living lives that do not includeparenthood, and the many ways to live happily ever after.
How to Be Childless: A History and Philosophy of Life Without Children
by Rachel Chrastil
CLICK FOR SYNOPSIS
by Rachel Chrastil
CLICK FOR SYNOPSIS
In How to Be Childless: A History and Philosophy of Life Without Children, Rachel Chrastil explores the long and fascinating history of childlessness, putting this often-overlooked legacy in conversation with the issues that childless women and men face in the twenty-first century. Eschewing two dominant narratives, that the childless are either barren and alone, or that they are carefree and selfish, How to Be Childless instead argues that the lives of childless individuals from the past can help all of us expand our range of possibilities for the good life.
In uncovering the voices and experiences of childless women from the past five hundred years, Chrastil demonstrates that the pathways to childlessness, so often simplified as “choice” and “circumstance,” are far more complex and interweaving. Balanced, deeply researched, and richly realized, How to be Childless will empower readers, parents and childless alike, to navigate their lives with purpose.
I Can Barely Take Care of Myself: Tales From a Happy Life Without Kids
by Jen Kirkman
CLICK FOR SYNOPSIS
by Jen Kirkman
CLICK FOR SYNOPSIS
In this instant New York Times bestseller that’s “boldly funny without being anti-mom” (In Touch), comedian and Chelsea Lately regular Jen Kirkman champions every woman’s right to follow her own path—even if that means being “childfree by choice.”
In her debut memoir, actress and comedian Jen Kirkman delves into her off-camera life with the same snarky sensitivity and oddball humor she brings to her sold-out standup shows and the Chelsea Lately roundtable, where she is a writer and regular performer. As a woman of a certain age who has no desire to start a family, Jen often finds herself confronted (by friends, family, and total strangers) about her decision to be “childfree by choice.” I Can Barely Take Care of Myself offers honest and hilarious responses to questions like “Who will take care of you when you get old?” (Servants!) and a peek into the psyche—and weird and wonderful life—of a woman who has always marched to the beat of a different drummer and is pretty sure she’s not gonna change her mind, but thanks for your concern.
I Hate Other People's Kids
by Adrianne Frost
CLICK FOR SYNOPSIS
by Adrianne Frost
CLICK FOR SYNOPSIS
Sure, children are the greatest gift of all — but that doesn’t mean you want to be seated next to one on an airplane.
From the dawn of time, other people’s kids have found ways to spoil things for the rest of us. Movie theaters, parks, restaurants — every venue that should be a place of refuge and relaxation has instead become a freewheeling playground complete with shrieks, wails, and ill-timed excretions.
Now, I Hate Other People’s Kids delivers a complete handbook for navigating a world filled with tiny terrors — and their parents. It boldly explores how children’s less- endearing traits have disrupted life throughout history (“And they say Jesus loved the little children, all the children of the world, but he never had to dine with one. He chose the lepers”) and classifies important subspecies of tyke, from “Little Monsters” (Dennis the Menace, Bamm-Bamm Rubble) to the “So Good It Hurts” variety (Dakota Fanning, Ricky Schroeder in The Champ). Dotted with illuminating sidebars such as “Parents Think It’s Cute, but It Isn’t” and featuring tips on ingeniously turning the tables without seeming childish yourself, I Hate Other People’s Kids is clever, unforgiving, and sidesplittingly funny.
The Mommy Myth: The Idealization of Motherhood and How It Has Undermined All Women
by Susan Douglas & Meredith Michaels
CLICK FOR SYNOPSIS
by Susan Douglas & Meredith Michaels
CLICK FOR SYNOPSIS
Taking readers on a provocative tour through thirty years of media images about mothers — the superficial achievements of celebrity moms, the sensational coverage of dangerous day care, the media-manufactured “mommy wars” between working mothers and stay-at-home moms, and more — The Mommy Myth contends that this “new momism” has been shaped by out-of-date mores, and that no matter how hard they try, women will never achieve it. In this must-read for every woman, Susan J. Douglas and Meredith W. Michaels shatter the myth of the perfect mom and all but shout, “We’re not gonna take it anymore!”
No Kidding: Women Writers on Bypassing Parenthood
by Henriette Mantel
CLICK FOR SYNOPSIS
by Henriette Mantel
CLICK FOR SYNOPSIS
In No Kidding, comedy writer Henriette Mantel tackles the topic of actually not having kids. This fascinating collection features a star-studded group of contributors—including Margaret Cho, Wendy Liebman, Laurie Graff, and other accomplished, funny women—writing about why they opted out of motherhood. Whether their reasons have to do with courage, apathy, monetary considerations, health issues, or something else entirely, the essays featured in the pages of No Kidding honestly (and humorously) delve into the minds of women who have chosen what they would call a more sane path.
Hilarious, compelling, and inspiring, No Kidding reveals a perspective that has too long been hidden, shamed, and silenced—and celebrates an entire population of women who have decided that kids are just not right for them.
Additional contributors include Janette Barber, Cheryl Bricker, Valri Bromfield, Cindy Caponera, Bonnie Datt, Jeanne Dorsey, Nora Dunn, Jane Gennaro, Julie Halston, Debbie Kasper, Sue Kolinsky, Maureen Langan, Beth Lapides, Bernadette Luckett, Merrill Markoe, Andrea Carla Michaels, Vanda Mikoloski, Judy Morgan, Judy Nielsen, Susan Norfleet, Suzanne O’Neil, Jennifer Prediger, Kathryn Rossetter, Betsy Salkind, Patricia Scanlon, Jeanette Schwaba Vigne, Nancy Shayne, Carol Siskind, Ann Slichter, Tracy Smith, Suzy Soro, Amy Stiller, and Nancy Van Iderstine.
Otherhood: Modern Women Finding A New Kind of Happiness
by Melanie Notkin
CLICK FOR SYNOPSIS
by Melanie Notkin
CLICK FOR SYNOPSIS
More American women are childless than ever before—nearly half those of childbearing age don’t have children. While our society often assumes these women are “childfree by choice,” that’s not always true. In reality, many of them expected to marry and have children, but it simply hasn’t happened. Wrongly judged as picky or career-obsessed, they make up the “Otherhood,” a growing demographic that has gone without definition or visibility until now.
In Otherhood, author Melanie Notkin reveals her own story as well as the honest, poignant, humorous, and occasionally heartbreaking stories of women in her generation—women who expected love, marriage, and parenthood, but instead found themselves facing a different reality. She addresses the reasons for this shift, the social and emotional impact it has on our collective culture, and how the “new normal” will affect our society in the decades to come.
Notkin aims to reassure women that they are not alone and encourages them to find happiness and fulfillment no matter what the future holds. A groundbreaking exploration of an essential contemporary issue, Otherhood inspires thought-provoking conversation and gets at the heart of our cultural assumptions about single women and childlessness.
Selfish, Shallow, and Self-Absorbed: Sixteen Writers on the Decision Not to Have Kids
by Meghan Daum
CLICK FOR SYNOPSIS
by Meghan Daum
CLICK FOR SYNOPSIS
One of the most provocative and talked-about books of the year, Selfish, Shallow, and Self-Absorbed is the stunning collection exploring one of society’s most vexing taboos.
One of the main topics of cultural conversation during the last decade was the supposed “fertility crisis,” and whether modern women could figure out a way to have it all―a successful career and the required 2.3 children―before their biological clocks stopped ticking. Now, however, the conversation has turned to whether it’s necessary to have it all (see Anne-Marie Slaughter) or, perhaps more controversial, whether children are really a requirement for a fulfilling life.
In this exciting and controversial collection of essays, curated by writer Meghan Daum, thirteen acclaimed female writers explain why they have chosen to eschew motherhood. Contributors include Lionel Shriver, Sigrid Nunez, Kate Christensen, Elliott Holt, Geoff Dyer, and Tim Kreider, among others, who will give a unique perspective on the overwhelming cultural pressure of parenthood.
This collection makes a smart and passionate case for why parenthood is not the only path to a happy, productive life, and takes our parent-centric, kid-fixated, baby-bump-patrolling culture to task in the process. In this book, that shadowy faction known as the childless-by-choice comes out into the light.
Single, No Children: Who Is Your Family?
by Bella DePaulo, Ph.D.
CLICK FOR SYNOPSIS
by Bella DePaulo, Ph.D.
CLICK FOR SYNOPSIS
The latest book from renowned singles expert Bella DePaulo includes new writings as well as articles previously published in Time magazine, Quartz, and a scholarly volume: 1. Welcome to Bigger, Broader Ways of Thinking about Families 2. How Our Families Became So Much More Than Just Mom, Dad, and the Kids 3. Innovative Families and Innovative Ways of Living 4. Why Do People Get Angry at Women Who Stay Single and Don’t Have Kids? 5. Single, No Children: Who Is Your Family? While many might be tempted to dismiss single people with no children as having no family at all, Professor DePaulo has never been one to put up with that sort of marginalizing of people who are single. She instead provides a powerful case for the outsized role of single people in holding families together, creating new kinds of families, and coming up with innovative ways to live.
Two Is Enough: A Couple's Guide to Living Childless by Choice
by Laura S. Scott
CLICK FOR SYNOPSIS
by Laura S. Scott
CLICK FOR SYNOPSIS
Fall in love. Get married. Have children. For most couples, marriage and children go hand in hand. And yet, the number of people choosing childlessness is on the rise. These are the childless by choice—people who have actively decided not to have children—rather than the childless by circumstance. In Two Is Enough, Laura S. Scott explores the assumptions surrounding childrearing, and explores the reasons many people are choosing to forgo this experience. Scott, founder of the Childless by Choice Project, examines the personal stories of people who have faced this decision and explores the growing trend of childlessness. Scott’s expert knowledge and analysis offer a picture of the childless by choice—who they are, why they’ve chosen to remain childless, and how they’ve had these conversations with loved ones. Honest and unapologetic, Two Is Enough recognizes the challenges of being childless in today’s society and offers suggestions on how that same society can change to make room for the childless and the childfree.
Unwomanly Conduct: The Challenges of Intentional Childlessness
by Carolyn Mackelcan Morell
CLICK FOR SYNOPSIS
by Carolyn Mackelcan Morell
CLICK FOR SYNOPSIS
Examines how the decision by some women not to become mothers challenges the meaning of the word woman in our society. This study is based on extensive interviews with 34 married women, ranging in age from 40 to 78, who have made the choice to be childless.
Why Don't You Have Kids?: Living a Full Life Without Parenthood
by Leslie Lafayette
CLICK FOR SYNOPSIS
by Leslie Lafayette
CLICK FOR SYNOPSIS
The founder of the ChildFree Network, a national support group for childless adults, offers an insightful exploration of parenting and not parenting, filled with questions, answers, statistics, interviews, anecdotes, and issues for those deciding whether or not to have children.
<br>
<br>
To have or not to have children is one of the most important decisions any of us will ever make. The fact that many American households today do not include children has dramatically changed the way we all live–but not necessarily the way we all think. In Why Don’t You Have Kids? strips away the myths surrounding childfree living and discusses what is truly involved in choosing to parent or not to parent. Drawing on the experiences of parenting and non-parenting adults and on social, spiritual, and psychological perspectives, Lafayette examines the issue from both female and male points of view, offering a balanced and thoroughly researched guide to this complex and intensely personal life-choice.
Why Have Kids?: A New Mom Explores the Truth About Parenting and Happiness
by Jessica Valenti
CLICK FOR SYNOPSIS
by Jessica Valenti
CLICK FOR SYNOPSIS
If parenting is making Americans unhappy, if it’s impossible to “have it all,” if people don’t have the economic, social, or political structures needed to support parenting, then why do it? And why are anxious new parents flocking to every Tiger Mother and Bébé-raiser for advice on how to raise kids?
In Why Have Kids?, Valenti explores these controversial questions through on-the-ground reporting, startling new research, and her own unique experiences as a mom. She moves beyond the black and white “mommy wars” over natural parenting, discipline, and work-life balance to explore a more nuanced reality: one filled with ambivalence, joy, guilt, and exhaustion. A must read for parents as well as those considering starting a family, In Why Have Kids? is an explosive addition to the conversation about modern parenthood.
Will You Be Mother?: Women Who Choose to Say No
by Jane Bartlett
CLICK FOR SYNOPSIS
by Jane Bartlett
CLICK FOR SYNOPSIS
Women are taught from the earliest moments of life that motherhood, along with marriage to a man, is a natural state to which they should aspire. From dollplay as a child to nagging questions of when am I going to become a grandparent as one gets older, the societal pressure to procreate is constant and intense. What then, of women who choose not to have children or are unable to have children? How do they respond to a society and to families that view them as selfish, incomplete, and less then women? In Will You Be Mother? Jane Bartlett interviews fifty women who, for various reasons, have not had children. We hear from women who have chosen to be sterilized in their twenties, others who can never say never but postpone childbearing because of acute ambivalence, women in their sixties who have chosen to never have children and are happy with that choice, and infertile women who have had no choice. They speak of how their own childhoods shaped their decision and, while expressing their frustration at the pressures placed upon them, also exhibit an unequivocal sense of freedom. Will You Be Mother? is a diverse exploration of the personal and public implications of the pressure society puts on women to have children, and a challenging critique of the prevalent belief that motherhood is a natural state for women.
Without Child: Challenging the Stigma of Childlessness
by Laurie Lisle
CLICK FOR SYNOPSIS
by Laurie Lisle
CLICK FOR SYNOPSIS
Without Child brings scope and depth to a subject that has long been misunderstood. Weaving rich materials from history, literature, religion, and sociology with Laurie Lisle’s own and other personal stories, this groundbreaking book does what no other has done before–presents childlessness in a multifaceted and positive light.
Most women grow up thinking they will become mothers. And many do follow that path. But for those women who are willingly or unwillingly without children, childlessness is a way of life that many of them must constantly defend. Without Child explores the facts and fallacies behind childlessness, what it means for women and society, and reminds us of how women can and do embrace this choice.
Lisle contends that childless women are part of an ancient and respectable cultural tradition that includes Biblical matriarchs, celibate saints, and nineteenth century social reformers. However, like other aspects of women’s history, this tradition has been forgotten and, in the process, maligned. Without Child brings childless women out of the shadows and places them back in women’s history.
Without Child also challenges the stigma of childlessness by offering childless women the life-affirming story of themselves. Beginning with the difficult inner journey a woman faces before finally deciding or realizing she will not bear children, Without Child explores the myth of the childless woman’s rejection of the maternal instinct. It also explores the childless woman’s relationship to mothers and mothering, to her femininity, to men, to achievement, to her body, and to old age.
In the shadow of a culture that claims to adore the child, Without Child brings a long forbidden topic into the light. Wide-ranging, yet intimate, philosophical, yet clear-sighted, this important book will reassure millions of women that they are not alone, not unusual, and, in fact, are part of a long and honorable tradition.
Your Children Are Boring: How Modern Parents Ruin Everything
by Tom James
CLICK FOR SYNOPSIS
by Tom James
CLICK FOR SYNOPSIS
Are you sick of a society that seems obsessed with children? Do you find modern parents insufferable?
Your Children Are Boring is a uniquely humorous look at our culture’s obsession with children, a world where virtually every advert has a squawking child in it, where pubs are full of wailing infants, and where every other Facebook post is tagged #ProudDad.
Why do parents themselves behave like infants? Why having a child doesn’t make you less selfish, why it’s extremely unlikely that your child is in fact, ‘special’, and why modern parenting is ruining everything, not least the kids themselves.
All the answers lie within, and it’s your duty to read it.
Yes, Your Children Are Boring will make you laugh, but it’s much more than that. Once consumed you must take its teachings into the world and fix society. Or something. Oh and if you put ‘Dad’ or ‘Mum’ in your social media bios, this book is aimed at you.
An excerpt from Your Children Are Boring:
“There are more radical solutions available to us of course. I take my lead from the way we’ve societally turned smokers into pariahs at pubs. Let’s create family areas in the pubs! Imagine, roped off areas out the back, covered in sick, where the tables are made of plastic rather than wood, soundproofed so we don’t have to listen to you loudly slow-talking, or the baby crying. Or you could just go to McDonalds, which is where the kids want to be anyway.
And that’s another thing; does anyone think these kids want to go to a pub? They’re not renowned for their rides and pits of plastic balls. But perhaps that’s just a matter of time. We’ll inevitably infantilise getting smashed like we seem intent on doing to everything else.
You want it all don’t you, your spoilt little brain thinks, ‘I’ve had a child, but that doesn’t mean I should modify my life. I still want pub, so baby come to pub!’ Kids should be, and probably are, bored out of their tiny minds at pubs. It’s where grown-ups go to bitch about their friends’ new kitchen or boyfriend / girlfriend, not a playground, that’s why they’re full of glass, fruit machines and sharp edges.
If we can be a little melodramatic though, you’re a virus. You’re ruining pubs like you ruined football and the cinema, colonising it like the most boring invading army in history armed with iPhones and Kleenex.”
Other Childfree Media
D.I.N.K.s - Double Income No Kids
CLICK FOR SYNOPSIS
CLICK FOR SYNOPSIS
When a childless freelance writer, who lives with his wife in a predominantly family-oriented suburb of Chicago, decides to write articles about discrimination against married couples without children, his career skyrockets him to local fame as the leader of a citywide D.I.N.K.s movement that suddenly lands him in court for slander.
To Kid or Not To Kid
CLICK FOR SYNOPSIS
CLICK FOR SYNOPSIS
The first feature film on the subject of living life without having children. Breaking the myth that is you don’t have kids, you’re weird, selfish or somehow wrong. Filmmaker Maxine Trump examines how society views women who choose not to have children.
Books by Childfree Authors
(content may not pertain to the childfree lifestyle)
The Age of the Child
by Kristen Tsetsi
CLICK FOR SYNOPSIS
by Kristen Tsetsi
CLICK FOR SYNOPSIS
What if parents needed a license to have kids? The Age of the Child asks (and answers) that question, but only after asking, “So, what would happen if birth control and abortion actually were criminalized?”
It’s the worst time in the nation’s history of reproductive legislation for someone like Katherine, who doesn’t want a child, to learn she’s pregnant. The ratification of the pro-creation Citizen Amendment has not only criminalized the birth control that would have prevented Katherine’s accidental pregnancy, but abortion and most miscarriages are illegal, too.
In this environment, not having a child will be a challenge.
Katherine isn’t afraid of a challenge.
Twenty-nine years later…
It’s probably the worst possible time in the nation’s history of reproductive legislation for Millie – well, for someone like Millie – to decide rather suddenly that she wants to be pregnant.
Since the recent implementation of parent licensing, getting pregnant requires government approval, and even attempting to cheat the system carries a sentence of imprisonment in a mysterious facility known as Exile. In this environment, a pregnancy for someone like Millie is all but impossible.
Millie doesn’t believe in “impossible”.
Having It All: Love, Success, Sex, Money Even If You're Starting With Nothing
by Helen Gurley Brown
CLICK FOR SYNOPSIS
by Helen Gurley Brown
CLICK FOR SYNOPSIS
The editor of “Cosmopolitan” gives advice on dealing with men and women, sex, marriage, career success, becoming more attractive, making money, and staying healthy with frank accounts of her own experiences in those areas
“On the Fence” these are some titles you might find useful.
Baby? Maybe?: How You Can Decide Between Motherhood and a Childfree Life
by Gayle Katz
CLICK FOR SYNOPSIS
by Gayle Katz
CLICK FOR SYNOPSIS
Still on the fence about having a baby? Is someone constantly reminding you your biological clock is ticking? Author Gayle Katz has been there, and she’s here to help you decide whether having a baby is right for you.
Despite ongoing pressure from her parents, friends, and society at large, Gayle was able to figure out what she really wanted and you can too. Through a blend of personal stories and practical advice you can start using today, Baby? Maybe? is your non-judgmental guide to starting a meaningful conversation with yourself and your partner.
In this book, you’ll discover:
The right time to have a baby so you set yourself up to live your best life
How to determine whether you and your partner are on the same page
Good reasons to start a family that will make every day that much sweeter
Bad reasons to have a baby that may doom everything you’ve worked so hard to achieve
And much, much more!
Deciding whether or not to have a baby is the most important decision you’ll ever make. If you ignore it or simply go with the flow, you allow others to make choices for you and that spells disaster. Instead of robbing yourself of your rights, Gayle’s easy-to-follow guide removes the confusion, anxiety, and mystery associated with this daunting decision and helps you zero in on what you really want.
Do I have to be a mother? A memoir of love and searching for female identity
by Karin Rahbek
CLICK FOR SYNOPSIS
by Karin Rahbek
CLICK FOR SYNOPSIS
She never wanted children. Will love change her mind?
Karin has always known that she doesn’t want to become a mother. The man she loves had a vasectomy, so her fear of an unwanted pregnancy is gone forever. Finally, living the life of her dreams, she’s completely unaware that her emotional world is going to turn upside down.
One day Karin finds herself confronted with a strong feeling of strange uncertainty, and after a while, she surprisingly discovers that in fact, she’s on the fence about motherhood.
Now, Karin realizes that she must make a decision that has the power of changing everything: Will she regret not having children with her perfect partner? Or will she have to leave him to have children with another man?
In this book, you will discover:
• Why making a personal decision doesn’t mean that you will never again deal with the choice of having children or not,
• The challenges of focusing on the woman you are when dealing with societal expectations, myths, and prejudices,
• How uncertainty makes you highly inclined to pay attention to what other people think about your lifestyle, rather than making your own confident decision,
• To find your true calling, you have to acknowledge that femininity and motherhood are two separate concepts that do not necessarily go together, and
• What matters the most is being on the same page as a couple.
Do I Have To Be A Mother? is a memoir about feelings of love, unspoken thoughts on motherhood, and considerations on what it means to be a woman. If you like reading about women who have found their own way in this world, you will love the author’s crucial search for her female identity in this book.
Motherhood - Is It For Me?: Your Step-by-Step Guide to Clarity
by Denise L. Carlini & Ann Davidman
CLICK FOR SYNOPSIS
by Denise L. Carlini & Ann Davidman
CLICK FOR SYNOPSIS
Many women question whether they want a baby or a childfree life. Motherhood – Is It For Me? is the perfect resource for addressing this crucial life choice. Find out what family planning might really mean for you with this insightful book, which offers every woman a clear path to understanding her ambivalence, moving through it, and making an informed decision about becoming a mother or remaining childfree.
For partnered and single women alike, this self-help guide will lead you to your truth, gently and non-judgmentally. A series of exercises – done at your own pace or over the book’s recommended 12 weeks – will enable you to navigate through your immobilization. You’ll learn how to let go of external circumstances that cloud the motherhood decision. No one can make the motherhood decision for you, but this self-help guide for women will help you to say hello to a new future—one of clarity and brightness.
Motherhood – Is It For Me? can be read and used individually or in a women’s group. Many women feel that there’s nowhere to turn when they can’t decide whether to become mothers; they’re unsure how to think about family planning. Some think they don’t want to be a mother at all, or they might be deciding whether to become pregnant after 35 and have a baby. In all of these circumstances, women can feel lonely, isolated and debilitated. If you have these feelings, you’re not alone; so, whether you read Motherhood – Is It For Me? as an individual or in a women’s group, doing the exercises will lead you to clarity.
This self-help guide includes 20 stories from women of diverse backgrounds who share their decision-making journeys; half of these women chose motherhood while half decided on a childfree life. These women’s stories create a valuable, supportive community by breaking the isolation that women often feel when they don’t know their own truths about motherhood.
The authors of this book, who are both licensed Marriage and Family Therapists, created the Motherhood-Is it for me?™ program in 1991—it has had more than 25 years of proven success. Motherhood – Is It For Me? brings the methods used in that innovative, insightful program to paperback or e-book. Motherhood – Is It For Me? provides the path to a woman’s deepest desire so that she can make the motherhood decision that feels right for her. It’s a must-read if you’re undecided.
Regretting Motherhood: A Study
by Orna Donath
CLICK FOR SYNOPSIS
by Orna Donath
CLICK FOR SYNOPSIS
Women who opt not to be mothers are frequently warned that they will
regret their decision later in life, yet we rarely talk about the
possibility that the opposite might also be true—that women who have
children might regret it. Drawing on years of research interviewing
women from a variety of socioeconomic, educational, and professional
backgrounds, sociologist Orna Donath treats regret as a feminist issue:
as regret marks the road not taken, we need to consider whether
alternative paths for women currently are blocked off. She asks that we
pay attention to what is forbidden by rules governing motherhood, time,
and emotion, including the cultural assumption that motherhood is a
“natural” role for women—for the sake of all women, not just those who
regret becoming mothers.
If we are disturbed by the idea that a
woman might regret becoming a mother, Donath says, our response should
not be to silence and shame these women; rather, we need to ask honest
and difficult questions about how society pushes women into motherhood
and why those who reconsider it are still seen as a danger to the status
quo. Groundbreaking, thoughtful, and provocative, this is an especially
needed book in our current political climate, as women’s reproductive
rights continue to be at the forefront of national debates.
The Childfree Society Club
by Jaclyn Jaeger
CLICK FOR SYNOPSIS
by Jaclyn Jaeger
CLICK FOR SYNOPSIS
