THEREWASAPERIODinmylateteensandearlytwentieswhen
a pregnancywasalwaysbadnews.Anaccident.Bythetimeyou
hityourthirties,it’salmostalwaysgoodnews.Byyourforties,
aquasi-miracle.Somuchangstandjoyfromlinesona stick.
I thoughtaboutthisa lot,once.I wastryingtogetpregnant.
Well,I wasdoingalltherightthingsbuthopingtofail.Everytime
I gotmyperiod,I thought,“Blessedbe.”It wasnot,dearreader,
a hoot,thislackoffruit.BecauseI wasmeanttofeeldevastated
thatmywombhadnotquickened.ButI didn’t.InsteadI justfelt
awaveofrelief.It didn’ttaketoo long to work out that I really,
reallydidn’twantchildren.
Itcan behardto explain,this notwanting. The people
youmeetwantareason.Theywanttobelievethatyouhate
children,orhadatraumaticchildhood.Some mightaccept
thatyouchoseacareerovermotherhood,orthatyouwant
alife ofunfetteredfun.Butthey don’treallyunderstandthe
conceptofanabsenceofwanting,thelackoftheurge–even
thoughanincreasingnumberofwomenarechoosingtobe
childfree. TheAustralianBureauOfStatisticspredictsthatin
thenot-too-distantfuturetherewill be more couple households
withoutchildrenthanwith.
The latest data shows that Australia’s fertility rate – the
averagenumberofchildrenperwoman–is1.7.It wasalmost
threein1970.Atthepresentrate,it’sbelowreplacementlevel,
meaningAustraliansarenothavingenoughchildrentomaintain
thepopulation.That’strueacrossthedevelopedworld.When
yougive womeneducation andaccesstocontraceptives–
when yougive them freedom – they have fewer children.>
ELLE VOICE
91
MORE WOMEN
ARE CHOOSING
TO NOT HAVE
CHILDREN. SO
WHY ARE THE
VOLUNTARILY
CHILDFREE STILL TOLD
THEY’LL CHANGE
THEIR MINDS?
BY TORY SHEPHERD