7 Reasons One in Five Women Don’t Want to Have Children

According to statistics, in the United States and the United Kingdom, 20% of women are childless. There are those who cannot become a mother for health reasons, while others make this decision deliberately. These are women who prefer to dedicate their lives to defending political rights, fighting for the environment or who have simply never felt endowed with a strong maternal instinct.

O awesome.club investigated the subject and discovered how women who decided not to have children answered questions about the reasons that led them to give up motherhood.

A clarification: we are not saying that you should become an adherent of the movement childfree. Our intention is to make you familiar with this social phenomenon.

Some people feel that women who choose not to have children are discriminated against not only in a social but also a political sense. Most of the time, representatives of this movement disapprove of government support given to young families with children.

Meanwhile, many people who care for elderly parents or other sick relatives also want state benefits. The process of caring for a sick relative is not an easy one, requiring a large financial investment. On the other hand, the support given by the public power is deficient.

Giving up having children, supporters of this idea make a kind of political protest.

The photo above shows Lucy Schultz, her boyfriend, Stephen, and the pet they adopted. The photo session went viral in no time, and the young woman soon became known as the “woman who gave birth to a cat”.

Professor Maria Vicedo-Castello analyzed the history of scientific ideas about the maternal instinct and came to the conclusion that there is no scientific proof that it exists. In short, no woman automatically starts wanting to have children just because she is a woman.

Ideas about family were built over centuries. Some people want to have children while for others, this idea doesn’t even cross their minds. The “lack” of the maternal instinct has nothing to do with a mental disorder. It is just the consequence of certain social and cultural factors. This occurred at various times.

In several cases, poor peasant women left newborn babies in the fields or simply killed them for a strong reason: the lack of food. In addition, it is no secret that medieval ladies used teas and infusions of various herbs to terminate their pregnancies.

Every day, the world’s population increases by about 250,000 people, which is equivalent to 80 million people in just one year. It is believed that if the number of inhabitants of the Planet reaches 9 billion, humanity will suffer not only an economic crisis, but also a food one. The lack of resources, incidentally, has already been felt in some regions. According to various estimates, approximately 124 million people worldwide die of hunger. First of all, the drama affects the African continent. There, women have an average of between 4 and 6 children, which only exacerbates the problem of food.

Given this, one of the most obvious solutions is to avoid procreation. Adherents believe that the more women join the movement childfree, the more humanity will tend to “keep the balance”. In some countries (eg China and Iran), the state enforces the policy of restricting the birth rate to the level of generational replacement.

Another similar reason has to do with the weather. Each person produces about 58 tons of carbon dioxide a year, not to mention the vast amount of waste. The movement formed by people who avoid having children because of environmental reasons is called antinatalism.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel (left) and British Prime Minister Theresa May (right).

According to statistics, in most cases, childfree they are educated, wealthy, ambitious women who simply don’t want to sacrifice their career or standard of living for the sake of children. They usually live in big cities, are not religious, do not respect the division of tasks based on gender and question traditions.

Many scholars on the subject point out that women without children are less “socially convenient”, as they are seen as selfish. However, this does not prevent supporters of the movement from contributing to social development. To prove this, we can cite some examples:

Condoleezza Rice — former US Secretary of State; Helen Clark — former Prime Minister of New Zealand; Angela Merkel — Chancellor of Germany; Theresa May — Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.

For several women, the fear of seeing their children suffering from a hereditary disease is greater than the desire to be a mother. We are talking about serious illnesses, such as schizophrenia and several others. To protect themselves, potential parents undergo genetic analyzes that show the likelihood of transmitting the disease to the fetus, making the final decision based on these results.

In this sense, the story of the American Frances Culling, whose husband suffered from Huntington’s disease, is very illustrative. The disease affects the nervous system and has no cure. The probability that the gene would be passed on to children was 50%. The couple had 5 children and all inherited the disease, 4 of which died early.

It’s no secret that the birth of a child in some ways limits a woman’s freedom. Especially when that mother does not have the help of relatives or nannies. For this reason, many postpone motherhood or completely give up on it. In other words, they are driven by the desire for freedom. After all, the child is still a source of concern when he turns 18. This remains for a lifetime.

The famous youtuber Jenny Mustard has already spoken about her personal choice: “I had to spend my life explaining that I don’t want to have children and what I heard most was the following: ‘you’ll want it when your biological clock goes off, or when you’re too old’”. Currently, she is 33 years old and has not heard any “clock alarms”.

For a long time, women were seen as bargaining chips by families. When granting permission to marry, the parents of the bride and groom signed a kind of property contract. The woman owed obedience to her husband, and had no choice about whether to have children or not.

Nowadays, from childhood, many girls continue to learn that the most important thing in life is to get married and have children. Otherwise, they’ll end up like old spinsters. As they grow up, many of them actually find happiness in motherhood, and that’s totally normal. But there are those who consider the child an unnecessary “topic” of life planning, which should also be seen as normal.

Cameron Diaz is also enthusiastic about the philosophy of the movement. childfree🇧🇷 The Hollywood diva explains her position as follows: “Women are afraid to say they don’t want children, as they will be condemned. But I am not afraid!”

The decision not to have children can hide more complex social and psychological reasons. For example, the dream of satisfying one’s own creative potential and the fear of not being able to cope with responsibilities.

Also, the reason for the decision may be a long-standing conflict with dad or mom. For example, if the person was the eldest daughter in a large family, and the parents delegated to her the role of taking care of younger siblings, it is understandable that she would become a follower of the movement childfree🇧🇷

People who don’t have children, either by their own will or by a stroke of fate, are generally seen as “someone with a problem”. Despite the progress and rapid development of modern society and even the struggles of feminism, this aspect of life continues to have controversial and controversial contours. And you, what do you think about the movement? childfree🇧🇷 Comment!