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I love how in recent years as Mother’s Day approaches we’ve been seeing more writings that question the maternal instinct. As one example, take the National Geographic article that just came out titled, “Is Maternal Instinct Only for Moms? Here’s the Science,” by Sarah Gibbens. I’d like to discuss a couple of related questions but without an assumption of instinct. Why? Continue reading “Yes, the Childfree Can Be Maternal”
As Mother’s Day rolls around each year, I find myself of mixed minds. Don’t get me wrong; even more since she passed last year, I love my mother and would celebrate her and how she raised my brother and me any day of the week. But as a childfree person, I have problems with Mother’s Day as a national holiday. Why? Here are two reasons:
As Vicki Larson, author of The New “I Do”, was reading Avivah Wittenberg-Cox’s Late Love: Mating in Maturity, she noticed that when the author talks about her “gray divorce” – her divorce after 22 years of marriage, “one thing kept coming up” as a good time to start anew. Her children had left home or were about to, and “she talks as if that’s the scenario for all 50-somethings.” Continue reading “Vicki Larson & I Talk Childfree “Gray Divorce””
Reading “Let’s hear it for the single, childless women: We get tired too,” by Mika Sarmiento got me thinking, especially when she writes about a “specific kind of guilt that comes with talking about sleepless nights and long days with said great wives and mothers.” What’s behind this particular kind of guilt? Continue reading “The Childfree, Childless & Guilt”
I sure like seeing more pieces out there these days on childfree sterilization in popular women’s publications. A recent piece in SELF on this topic deserves mention. After Deputy Editor Nina Bahadur relays a few women’s frustrating experiences and describes what male and female sterilization procedures involve, she gets into the ethical issues that need more talking about. Continue reading “On Childfree Sterilization: Shifting from Paternalism to Reproductive Autonomy”
With the rise in articles and posts about being childfree these days, I especially appreciate those that give good summaries of the childfree decision. Take the recent post, “Why Many Millennials Have Decided To Be Childfree (And That’s Okay)” by Liz Greene on peacefuldumpling.com. Continue reading “At the Heart of the Childfree Decision”
Valentine’s Day brings to mind one of the many bennies of being in a childfree relationship: because the childfree don’t have kids, they have more time to devote to their relationships. Continue reading “Childfree Love: Making Every Day Valentine’s Day”
At the beginning of January, some interesting ‘not having children’ numbers came out regarding women in their 40s. This Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) table gives a succinct summary: Continue reading “A Global Look at Not Having Children”
Now for Part II of childfree trends we have seen this past year. In addition to muddied use of “Childfree,” “Child-free” “Child free “and “Childless” I wrote about in Part I, five more childfree trends are worth noting: Continue reading “Looking Back: 2017 Childfree Trending Part II”
At the beginning of 2016, I took stock of 40+ years of talking about the childfree choice. At the end of 2016, I looked back and discussed positive childfree trends that year. It’s time for childfree trending 2017…this year I’ll do childfree trending in two parts. Here’s Part I: Continue reading “Looking Back: 2017 Childfree Trending Part I”
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