I know of a couple women who have
declared that they do not want children. My first reaction was, how selfish, how
could they, especially since they are all married and wanting children should
be a natural part of being married.
I did not even think that it might
have been difficult for them to declare this position and have to very often defend
it, in a culture that puts emphasis on procreating.
Read about women who have made this decision
and how they are coping, in a world where declaring that you do not want
children, is looked on as taboo.
From the site:-
"Women might think I'm in denial, but they let me get on with it now. Men, meanwhile, are astounded. Flummoxed. They become aggressive, sneering. They psychoanalyse me, they try to work out what's wrong with me. Who knows why? Perhaps they feel rejected. Perhaps the idea that there are women at large who are not actively pursuing their sperm is an out-and-out affront to a certain kind of man. The same men who have spent years believing that all women secretly want to trap them into commitment and fatherhood, probably.
For whatever reason, I've been pulled up on my wanton childless status, loudly and at length, by three different men, in three different pubs, over the course of the last fortnight alone.
Here's the thing: we need to stop pretending that childlessness isn't happening to us. It is. The birth rate in Europe is in steep decline. We know this. We know that, currently, 40% of UK university graduates aged 35 are childless and that at least 30% will stay that way permanently. We know that much of this childlessness is involuntary or, at least, unconsidered, the consequence of infertility, a lack of opportunity or leaving it too late."
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