Public Perceptions of the Childfree

The word "childfree" conjures up unpleasant images for many people. They might be thinking of web sites that refer to parents as "breeders" or call children some really nasty things that I won't even repeat here. These web sites tend to spend more time bashing parents and/or children than saying positive things about, or even discussing, the childfree choice. I myself tend to be a little creeped out by this type of "childfree."

But, guess what? Most childfree books, web sites and articles aren't like that at all. I literally think I have read almost all of the easily found childfree web sites on the 'net. I have also read about a dozen books on the topic, which is quite a lot considering there really aren't that many. And after all this research into the childfree community, I've found very, very little to be offended by. If a web site or article or book seems to be the type of thing that would disturb me I just skip it. But those are few and far between.

Most importantly, those people giving the childfree community a bad name have absolutely nothing to do with whether there are GOOD reasons for not having kids. And for many of us, there are. There are a slew of them. It's my hope that at some point, people will become a bit more open-minded about it.