childless by choice
My issue with young people deciding not have children has far less to do with any societal obligations they may or may not have. It's way more personal: Yes, you may count me among those dumb-clucks who worry that young people just don't know what they're missing and when and if they do realize it, it'll be too late.
I know you are tired, moms. I know you are overworked, I know you want to tell us for how long you were in labor and I feel for you, I do. But please stop scaring me, because if I do decide to join you, apparently these will be my last days of solitary, flavored yogurt-eating, judgment-free fun.
WHAT'S HAPPENING
Why does society still stigmatize having no children by choice? Because the majority remain fundamentally stuck on the long-held pronatalist belief that we are all wired to want to become parents.
I could not be happier for loved ones who choose to become parents. For some it is their true calling. But for others, myself and my husband included, it isn't. If you are our friends and loved ones, be happy for us. Because we are.
A generation ago, women who did not marry and/or have children by age 40 grieved and moved on. But today, with the advancement of assisted reproductive technology, women are no longer given permission to move on.
More people are recognizing what we've been taught to believe about parenthood is just that -- what we've been taught to believe.
Here's the real truth: Marriage and kids are not for everybody and we should all stop acting like they are.