The Story of Childfree Family
Cody and his wife AJ discussed and decided before getting married that they wanted to have a childfree lifestyle. Like most people who choose this path, there is a sense of lurking in the shadows trying to find others like themselves over the years. There was (and still is) a negative stigma for people who remain non-parents. So to finding someone in-person living the childfree lifestyle always felt like a small celebration.
Considering themselves fortunate to have made connections with other childfree people in their city, Cody realized through being a member of various Facebook groups that this was a difficult task for others. It was not for their lack of trying. Two things came to the forefront:
1. The childfree demographic is extremely fractured in a social sense. For example, on Facebook there are nearly 500 Groups and Pages that are childfree in nature (by-choice and by-circumstance). While one person could possibly join/like ALL of these groups that in itself leads to another problem: your Facebook feed becomes flooded with a lot of repetitive information. As people in one group are wrapping up a discussion on a topic, a very similar topic starts up in another group. Wouldn’t it be great if everyone involved in that topic was able to hold a singular conversation?
2. The one question that pops up in nearly 100% of these groups/pages is, “Where is everyone from?” While people try to respond and make a connection sharing their City or Country, it eventually becomes a thread that is too long to read and inevitably is asked again in a matter of days. Wouldn’t it be great if there was a map where childfree people could have a marker to represent themselves?
Those two questions put Cody on a path to re-connect this group within itself. The map became the focal point of what was to become Childfree Family. To him it was the missing piece needed to plant a flag for people to rally around. With that cornerstone, the website started to take shape. He began utilizing the best parts of what already exists and put it in one place.
~ If there is a map, then members should be able to include a picture if they want and even some details about their story. So profiles were added.
~ If there are profiles, then people should be allowed to communicate with each other. So the ability to send direct messages from profile to profile was added.
~ If people want to communicate on a larger scale – they should be able to, so forums were added.
~ Recognizing there is diversity within the childfree demographic, the ability to form groups was added.
~ Finally, the site felt like it was beginning to take on an identity. What was this place to be called? It needed a name…a brand… Something that would be able to act as a singular representation for its mission and ideals. “Childfree Family” felt like the perfect fit. This community would become a virtual home for its members.
We hope you enjoy your time in this community. It was built for you – you are not alone!
More Childfree Family Blogs & News can be found HERE.
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