A day of celebration for many, it is also a source of anxiety for those whose hopes of motherhood have been dashed by infertility, loss, and those who have chosen unconventional paths to parenthood.
Articles on Childlessness
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Life is a gamble, anti-natalists say, and it’s unethical to force someone else to take the risk.
Criticisms of women without biological children define motherhood too narrowly, as history reveals the many forms of motherhood.
Compared with voters who are trying to have kids or haven’t decided yet, those who definitely don’t want to have kids – known as the ‘child-free’ – have a different set of political priorities.
Women in Catholic religious orders establish schools for girls around the world, care for the sick and work on societal issues in many other ways.
Too often, women are judged solely through a biological lens. Our value, our ability to contribute meaningfully to society, is reduced to our ability to reproduce.
If parents prefer to associate with other parents, what does that mean for people who have decided against having kids?
Rich with evocative detail, an author’s personal account of childlessness has no neat narrative arc, but is touched by grace and acceptance.
Why do women freeze their eggs? My research shows it’s for a range of reasons, and not always due to a desire to become a mother.
Despite the hype about a “coronial” baby boom, the pandemic is likely to see many Australians delay or not have children at all.
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An audio version of a long read article on the history of infertility, 40 years after the first baby was born via IVF.
Women who publicly state their desire never to be mothers in the traditional sense challenge the idea that woman and mother are synonymous.
Some might say we’re in the age of the ‘priceless’ child, but The New Yorker certainly doesn’t think so.
Societies overwhelmingly endorse reproduction, but the pressure this places on people who don’t want to have kids may be putting their health at risk.
Top contributors
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Associate Professor of Psychology, Michigan State University
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Professor of Psychology, Michigan State University
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Professor of Health Equity, Stretton Health Equity, School of Public Health, Adelaide University
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PhD Candidate in Sociology, Indiana University
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Professor of Sociology, University of Wisconsin-Madison
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Senior Lecturer in US History, College of Human Sciences and Culture, Flinders University
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Lecturer, Creative Writing, University of Technology Sydney
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Professor Emerita of Religious Studies, College of the Holy Cross
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Demographer, POLIS Centre for Social Policy Research, Australian National University
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Docteure en Anthropologie sociale et ethnologie, Ined (Institut national d'études démographiques)
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Regents Professor of History, University of Montana
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PhD Student in Anthropology, The New School
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Assistant Professor, University of Illinois Chicago
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Lecturer, The Cairnmillar Institute Melbourne, La Trobe University
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Associate Professor in Marketing at ESCP Business School, ESCP Business School