Anyone Child Free By Choice?

angelicmary85 · 4 March 2010 at 3:00PM

venus1978 wrote: »

If you ever did that'll really start the, When are you having a baby ? questions lol.

I already have 2 kids...at the start of the thread I posted that I can understand why people don't have them now that I've got them! I just hung around because I enjoyed reading about the things I can't really do just now! :rotfl:

*Maya* wrote: »

Why have you used the silent smilie when you've already said exactly what you think? :huh:
I can't believe you have said that women have children as a way to get out of working and let other people pay for them. Do you realise how many women work outside the home and DO have children? Do you realise that for any mother who takes parenting seriously, being a stay at home mother is hardly an easy option. I think that that is such an ignorant opinion and stems from reading too many Daily Mail articles on benefits scroungers.:( And I see alot of people these days who knew they never wanted kids but now say "oh I'm not having them because the world is overpopulated!!" Why try to jump on an eco bandwagon and not just admit that they wouldn't have had children whether it was good for the planet or not?
And I am child free, though not by choice and I do hope to have them one day but I wouldn't say anyone was odd for not having them.

I agree. I work! Go Me!! :rotfl:

venus1978 wrote: »

But you have to have the BIG PINK FOOFY DRESS !!! How could you possibly turn that oportunity down:D

I think I'd be easy to turn down that opportunity!!

BubblyMumbles · 4 March 2010 at 3:01PM

KimYeovil wrote: »

I can't imagine anyone being child-free through choice.

Why not?

I can't imagine anyone spending every moment of their lives obsessing about having children, but they do.

There's more to life than smelly nappies and needy kids.

venus1978 · 4 March 2010 at 3:05PM

angelicmary85 wrote: »

I already have 2 kids...at the start of the thread I posted that I can understand why people don't have them now that I've got them! I just hung around because I enjoyed reading about the things I can't really do just now! :rotfl:

Opps thats right, I sometimes have difficulty remembering what I had for lunch.

When the kids get older you'll get the chance again.

Person_one · 4 March 2010 at 3:06PM

SandC wrote: »

I can understand that the whole point of existence is to reproduce and carry on the existence. But what some of the people who don't understand those of us who don't have the maternal or paternal urge is that society has been skewed beyond all recognition of merely populating.

It isn't natural to have stopped the illnesses that would regularly contain overpopulation by having a high child mortality rate. It isn't natural to control your procreating with contraception. It isn't natural to stray further than the next door field to find your 'mate'.

We can never be sure that the urge to reproduce was always there in neanderthal man and woman.

It's quite a deep subject when you really start thinking about it. But society has grown to give us choices and that is what we are doing!

Maybe us non-maternal types are actually an evolutionary step forward? Lots of animals won't or can't reproduce in overcrowded situations so maybe the human race has adapted so that only some of us go on to have offspring, eventually bringing the population down to more manageable levels.

Ok, so I know evolution doesn't work that fast, but childfree folks aren't hurting anybody so why is it anybody else's business?

GemmaB78 · 4 March 2010 at 3:09PM

Another one who is CF through choice. My (now ex) OH also doesn't want kids so we had a fabulous 5 years doing what we wanted, when we wanted.

Now I'm single again obviously kids aren't going to happen. I'm desperately praying that OH will change his mind. But if he doesn't, then how hard is it going to be to find a nice single man in his 30s that doesn't have kids? I don't want to be a stepmum.

auoq86 · 4 March 2010 at 3:17PM

ceridwen wrote: »

Anyone can have children (bar infertility problems of course) - it doesnt take a conscious decision to HAVE them. Someone could have 10 children - and I would still ask them "What have you DONE with your life?" and expect to hear something that they personally had done in response.

Maybe you should meet my Mum. I'm one of eight children. I know that each and every one of us was a conscious decision. Ask my Mum "What have you DONE with your life?" and she would tell you that she has raised eight decent, hardworking, law abiding children. She is, and continues to be, an active farmers wife from the day my parents married. She home-schooled one of my younger brothers and now also runs her own business in addition to her active role in the farm.

I may be biased, but I think she has done a LOT with her life - a lot more than many people with far less or no children. I admire her for all of her achievements, but each and every one of them were her own choice. I don't know how she has done it (and don't aspire to do the same myself).

So, don't think for one minute that a Mum can't achieve anything at a personal level.

Meanwhile, if you hadn't seen my earlier post, I am child free by choice and more than happy with it. Maybe it was having so many siblings that put me off reproducing myself!

venus1978 · 4 March 2010 at 3:25PM

auoq86 wrote: »

Maybe you should meet my Mum. I'm one of eight children. I know that each and every one of us was a conscious decision. Ask my Mum "What have you DONE with your life?" and she would tell you that she has raised eight decent, hardworking, law abiding children. She is, and continues to be, an active farmers wife from the day my parents married. She home-schooled one of my younger brothers and now also runs her own business in addition to her active role in the farm.

I may be biased, but I think she has done a LOT with her life - a lot more than many people with far less or no children. I admire her for all of her achievements, but each and every one of them were her own choice. I don't know how she has done it (and don't aspire to do the same myself).

So, don't think for one minute that a Mum can't achieve anything at a personal level.

Meanwhile, if you hadn't seen my earlier post, I am child free by choice and more than happy with it. Maybe it was having so many siblings that put me off reproducing myself!

Good grief, How on earth did she manage to do all that :eek: I'm knackered at thought of it.

I don't disagree that you can't have kids and still do something with your life (if thats the right way to put it).

But its the people who think thats all there is to life, and because you choose not to have children that your not doing anything worthwhile with your life, IYKWIM.

Person_one · 4 March 2010 at 3:25PM

auoq86 wrote: »

Maybe you should meet my Mum. I'm one of eight children. I know that each and every one of us was a conscious decision. Ask my Mum "What have you DONE with your life?" and she would tell you that she has raised eight decent, hardworking, law abiding children. She is, and continues to be, an active farmers wife from the day my parents married. She home-schooled one of my younger brothers and now also runs her own business in addition to her active role in the farm.

I may be biased, but I think she has done a LOT with her life - a lot more than many people with far less or no children. I admire her for all of her achievements, but each and every one of them were her own choice. I don't know how she has done it (and don't aspire to do the same myself).

So, don't think for one minute that a Mum can't achieve anything at a personal level.

Meanwhile, if you hadn't seen my earlier post, I am child free by choice and more than happy with it. Maybe it was having so many siblings that put me off reproducing myself!

I know people who seem to think that merely producing child after child is an achievement and that their work is done once the kid's past the 'cute' baby stage.

I've always said that merely having children is no achievement, if it was there wouldn't be millions of us desperately trying to avoid it though pills, condoms, injections , implants etc! Raising a child to become a kind, decent hardworking member of society is an achievement, because its not easy and those are exactly the kind of people that the world needs.