Reconsidering Childfreedom: A Feminist Exploration of Discursive Identity Construction in Childfree LiveJournal Communities

Facets of Agency in Stories of Transforming From Childless by Choice to Mother

“…In 2013, the U.S. total fertility rate, or estimated number of births per woman during her lifetime, was 1.86 births per woman, down from 1.88 in 2012, 1.89 in 2011, and 1.93 in 2010 (Hamilton, Hoyert, Martin, Strobino, & Guyer, ; Martin, Hamilton, Ventura, Osterman, & Mathews, ; Osterman, Kochanek, MacDorman, Strobino, & Guyer, ). Simultaneously, scientists at the National Center for Health Statistics estimated that the percentage of childless‐by‐choice women—who have made the decision to never have children and are also termed childfree and voluntarily childless (Moore, )—rose from 2.4% in 1982 to 4.3% in 1990 to 6.6% in 1995 (Paul, ). Abma and Martinez () analyzed the National Survey of Family Growth to estimate that the percentage of voluntarily childless women aged 35 to 44 years grew from 5% in 1982 to 8% in 1988, peaking at 9% in 1995 and then declining to 7% in 2002.…”

“…However, statistics about voluntary childlessness are scarce and muddled; it is difficult to estimate the number of childless‐by‐choice individuals because many large‐scale surveys do not delineate between individuals who delay childbearing and those who desire never to have children, between childbearing desires and intentions, or only survey married individuals (Abma & Martinez, ; Bernardi et al, ; Moore, ). Furthermore, it may be impossible to cleanly isolate “voluntary” from “involuntary” childlessness when considering how delayed childbearing may contribute to infertility or how infertility may contribute to the choice to not pursue alternative avenues such as adoption or assisted reproductive technologies (Jeffries & Konnert, ; Lundquist, Budig, & Curtis, ).…”

“…The choice to never have children is not only a decision but also an identity that is often stigmatized (Moore, ; Moore & Geist‐Martin, ; Park, ). Scholars have adopted multiple perspectives to understand women's pathways to voluntary childlessness, including the study of motives and dyadic decision making (Blackstone & Stewart, ; Houseknecht, ; Lee & Zvonkovic, ; Park, ).…”

“It’s My Body and My Life”

“…Voluntarily childless women have often been perceived as selfish, self-centred and materialistic, and have experienced being met with shock, pity, criticism and hostility in light of their voluntary childlessness. (p. 227) Moore (2014) says that scholarly interest in voluntary childlessness "shifted focus from eugenics to feminism in the late 1960s and early 1970s" (p. 160), by the time that second wave feminism arose around the world. Research in the field of nonmotherhood has shown that childfree women suffer considerable stigmatization, related to negative stereotypes, being seen by others as selfish, abnormal, unwomanly, childish, neurotic, and cold (Gillespie, 2000;Vinson, Mollen, & Grant Smith, 2010).…”

“Never Say Never?” Heterosexual, Bisexual, and Lesbian Women’s Accounts of Being Childfree

“…": HETEROSEXUAL, BISEXUAL, AND "Never Say Never?" Heterosexual, Bisexual, and Lesbian Women's Accounts of Being Childfree Childlessness has been of interest to feminist researchers since the late 1960s and early 1970s (Moore, 2014), but in recent years research has gathered new momentum (for reviews, see Blackstone & Stewart, 2012;Shapiro, 2014). Since the so-called "second wave" of feminism, feminists have discussed how traditional gender roles position motherhood as inevitable (Morell, 2000;Peterson & Engwall, 2013).…”