Meaning-making among intentionally childless women

This paper is a summary of a qualitative research project that focused upon meaning-making processes as described by intentionally childless women. A grounded theory exploration, it involved semi-structured interviews with 30 cisgendered women aged 27–61 who chose childlessness early in life. Based on principles inherent to social constructivism and feminist theories, the subjective voices of the participants were analyzed as normative expressions of female identity. The main category that accompanied intentional childlessness was a sense of freedom. In addition, two additional thematic categories focused on ways the women view their contributions to their communities and experience belonging and a sense of meaning in the world. Some negative experiences associated with being intentionally childless were also reported. The majority of the women in this study noted that they feel no regret or have no second thoughts about their decision, while a third of the participants spontaneously noted that they experience their lives as superlative.

Childlessness – psychological consequences of decisions taken while experiencing infertility

The aim of this article is to present the results of original research into psychological consequences for women choosing intentional childlessness as a way of coping with infertility. The study included 87 women who decided to remain childless. Tools used in the study were: the original Attitudes towards Own Infertility Scale; the HDS-M Scale (Zigmond, Snaith); the original Scale for Assessment of Hope as an Emotional State; the Satisfaction with Life Scale SWLS (Diener et al.); the Rosenberg Self Esteem Scale (SES). Significant correlations were found between variables included in the study were found. The analysis comparing psychological variables with sociodemographic variables showed that only the length of time since diagnosis is related to the level of hope. The analysis comparing childless women with those undergoing infertility treatment revealed statistically significant differences in the level of acceptance of one’s infertility (higher in childless women) and in the perception of social support and its types (women undergoing infertility treatment perceived a higher level of support) The cluster analysis indicated that there are three characteristics on which the effectiveness of coping with infertility depend. The conclusions of the study are extremely important in the process of preparing preventive psychology programs for women who make a conscious decision to remain childless.

Childlessness Intentions and Ideals in Europe

Using data from Eurobarometer Surveys 2001–2011 we examine trends and correlates of childlessness intentions and ideals across Europe over the past decade. We distinguish childlessness as a personal preference (personal ideal number of children is zero) from intended childlessness (intention to have no children) as these reflect somewhat different dimensions of childlessness as a conscious decision. We find that, on average, childlessness as a personal preference is relatively rare in Europe, although in some western European countries a sizeable proportion of young adults express a desire to have no children. Intentional childlessness is slightly more common than ideal childlessness is, since about 11% of currently childless young adults aged 18 to 40 years in Europe intend to have no children. We analyse factors related to childlessness intentions and ideals on the individual and country levels. A weaker individual socioeconomic position influences the intention to remain childless through various channels, such as unemployment or low socioeconomic status. Associations between individual’s social position and ideal childlessness are less clear. Results also indicate that macro-economic conditions do not have a direct impact on intentional childlessness, whereas a higher prevalence of traditional family values in a country is related to a lower likelihood of individuals considering childlessness to be their ideal family form.

Voluntary or Involuntary Childlessness? Socio-Demographic Factors and Childlessness Intentions among Childless Finnish Men and Women aged 25-44

Lifetime childlessness is expected to increase in the future. Recent research suggests that also voluntary childlessness in increasing among young adults. As childbearing decisions are increasingly based on individual preferences and choices it is believed that also those who do not favor family life with children can now more freely express their preferences. This study aims to investigate the prevalence of voluntary childlessness among Finnish young adults and factors associated with it. Data come from Finnish Social Relationships and Well-being Survey, conducted in 2008 among 25-44-year-old childless or one-child men and women. This study focuses on childless respondents (N=1244). Two types of intentional childlessness are distinguished. Persons are classified as voluntarily childless if they do not intend to have children and prefer life without children. Those, who also have no intentions to have children, but whose personal ideal number of children is above zero are defined as persons who have relinquished parenthood intentions. Childhood characteristics are found to predict voluntary childlessness more, while socioeconomic circumstances and lack of a suitable partner explain relinquished parenthood intentions. Respondents personal accounts on the reasons behind their childbearing choices support the findings from multivariate analyses.

Some characteristics of intentionally childless wives in Britain

SummaryIntentional childlessness in Britain has been investigated by means of a postal questionnaire survey of married women who to date had never had a child. These wives were categorized according to their fertility intentions. As a group the wives were well-educated, likely to be employed and to be married to men in professional or managerial occupations, although there were some with husbands in manual occupations. The main reason perceived by the wives for their decision not to have children was the value they placed on the freedom they consequently gained. A majority of the wives felt there were no disadvantages in remaining childless. The remainder who felt that there were disadvantages identified these as: missing the positive features of children; possible loneliness and lack of support in old age; feelings of deviancy; and economic and social discrimination resulting from their childlessness.