Older People Who Chose Not To Have Kids Shared If They Regret Their Decision Now

Every person has individual thinking and idea to spend their lives.

Someone wants to make a house, planting a tree, and bringing up a child. Recent U.S. population surveys show that a record percentage of women don’t have kids. 

Recently, a Reddit user throwawaygeneral8899, who is currently getting married, decided to find out how these people feel about their decision to not have kids. They created a post asking “Older couples that decided to not have children …how do you feel about your decision now that years have passed?” The responses started pouring in quickly, and you can really feel the honesty behind them.

The 2014 census figures, however, revealed that 47.6 percent of women between age 15 and 44 have never had children ― the highest rate ever tracked. According to a 2014 Pew Research Center report, 19 percent of women remain childless by age 40 to 44.

Amy Blackstone, a gender sociologist at the University of Maine who specializes in childfree research, says, “Right now, girls in particular, but girls and boys both, are raised to imagine themselves as parents of children,” she told Huff Post. “But if we more critically thought about the question of whether or not to parent, then everyone would have the opportunity to make the choice that’s right for them.”

“Of course, the childfree would benefit… if we made it a choice rather than an assumption,” Blackstone said. “But I think parents would benefit, too.”

Blackstone conducted 60 to 90-minute interviews with 31 people (21 women and 10 men) about their decision to live childfree. The study revealed that the choice is not spontaneous but rather a complex and ongoing conversation. This pushes back on critics, saying that childfree couples are selfish or flippant.

Blackstone wishes to continue her research in the future as well, and she hopes to create a world where childfree people don’t have to defend their choice to others.