A Child Free Life

A Child Free Life A series of photographs and interviews with women who live a Child-Free life by photographer Cassand

ELEANORE “66 yr old world traveler, minor league foodie, crossword puzzler & good friend.”1: What led you to a Child-Fre...
13/11/2021

ELEANORE
“66 yr old world traveler, minor league foodie, crossword puzzler & good friend.”

1: What led you to a Child-Free life:
I think I may have been born into it! I cannot think of a time most of my life and even in childhood that I wanted children. And that never really changed.
Interestingly, perhaps, I considered it briefly in my 40s because I wondered “what if I change my mind when it’s too late?” Fortunately, that thought was fleeting and I’ve never regretted not having kids

2: Any Challenges?:
None that I can think of

3: What are the Benefits?:
The benefits are many for me; in no particular order:
-Raising children seems like more work than I’m willing to do and is not particularly interesting to me
- I don’t have to be bothered with another person when I don’t want to. And a good mother should always want to.
- Quoting a young women in her 20s who recently said “mothers are always tired”. And I thought, yes that’s true!
- I love to travel and being childfree allows me to go where I want for as long as I want with few complications
- I moved to Sydney from NYC after considering the offer for about 15 minutes. This would have been a much more complicated decision if I had to “consider the children”
- It just feels right

SONYA  An animal lover who’s passionate about looking after our environment.1: What led you to a Child-Free life?: Even ...
02/11/2021

SONYA
An animal lover who’s passionate about looking after our environment.

1: What led you to a Child-Free life?:

Even from a young age I never wanted to have children. I used to borrow my dads brief case and pretend to be a successful business woman, as I got older I was really interested in giving back to the community and volunteering and having children just didn’t fit into what I wanted to do with my life.

2: Any Challenges?:

The only challenges are other people’s expectations, because they have never thought about different options open to them in life and assume a woman’s path is to find a partner then have kids - this is usually by people who don’t know you very well.

My family and my friends are great, and all have different paths, careers, relationships status and my child free status has always been supported and encouraged.

3: What are the Benefits?:

The benefits are I can spend my weekends volunteering at an animal shelter helping gorgeous rescue animals. I can give back to the community, have a fulfilling career and make time for my friendships and relationships. Yes, I’m busy but it’s on my terms and I get to enjoy time to myself when I need it as well.

BRONWYNA former corporate exec turned yoga instructorWhat Led you to a Child-Free Life?I was never overly interested in ...
06/05/2021

BRONWYN
A former corporate exec turned yoga instructor

What Led you to a Child-Free Life?
I was never overly interested in becoming a mum, and so as different choices came up for me I continued along the child-free path.
Each decade had a different feel to it:
my 20s being "no way" too much to explore.
30s, a love felt deeply for someone led me to consider it but that love ended and so did my thoughts of a child.
40s, an increasing number of friends who really wanted children either hadn't, found out they couldn't, or pursued all avenues that medicine offered.
Now in my 50s, technically I don't have children but use my nurturing energy on other pursuits.

Any challenges?
2 things: it's the default setting, to assume children somewhere in a woman's life so I felt a constant awareness to being child-free. This has been with me since my 30th birthday.
Friendships change for everyone. The most challenging has been to maintain relationships as friends moved through the intensity of school-age children. Despite best intentions from both of us, time and circles move differently once parents moved into the selfless phase of child-rearing.

What are the benefits?
Many.
My financial independence has allowed me many things. I treasure the home I have been able to create, it's my anchor and my nest. It's a place that I own so I can now move into new adventures knowing I have this security.
It's a space I share with friends, family, and the fluffy delinquent that is my dog, Elliott.

Address

Sydney, NSW

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when A Child Free Life posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Business

Send a message to A Child Free Life:

Share

Category