Show 43: The Childfree Decision

NOT EVERYONE HAS kids. Deciding not to become a parent can be just as big of a decision as opting to start a family. On this episode of Kids These Days! we speak with two authors who are childfree about why they made the choice to live life without littles and how it impacts their current lives in ways both negative and positive.

Lisa Manterfield; Dr. Ellen Walker

IN-STUDIO GUESTS: Childfree by chance, Lisa Manterfield the author of I'm Taking My Eggs and Going Home: How One Woman Dared to Say No to Motherhood, shares how a long struggle with infertility began to consume her life, leading her to make a tough decision; and childfree by choice, Dr. Ellen Walker penned Complete Without Kids: An Insider's Guide to Childfree Living by Choice or By Chance, speaks about both personal and societal acceptance of those who've chosen to not have children.

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"Childlessness felt like a grieving or a missing out on something essential. So instead, I chose to use the word childfree... Childfree as opposed to childless also demonstrates the positive feeling I have about my own personal choice, without in any way criticizing the choice of those who have decided to have children. - Dr. Ellen Walker, from Complete Without Kids.

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FEATURED STORIES:

• Childlessness Rates Up; Shifting Social Attitudes - A recent Pew Research study found that rates of childlessness among all women are on the rise - we ask: could this be due to increasingly tolerant social attitudes towards women who aren't mothers? Dr. Gretchen Livingston, a Senior Researcher at the Pew Research Foundation, explains more about her recent report.

• Aging Without Children - A common question directed at those without kids is: “What happens when you get old?” So we asked Dr. Ann Jache, a sociology professor specializing in aging- what are the daily - and long-term – concerns of those growing old without kids?