Choosing Not to Have Children

Have you ever been on a job or at a social event where EVERYONE had a pile of kids (not just one or two, I mean a PILE)? Regardless of being married or single, have you ever been drilled as to why you don't have kids, particularly if you're female? Do you ever feel totally out of your element or like you're the ONLY one in the world with no kids?

Well, now you're not alone.

The No Kidding organization (www.nokidding.net), founded in 1984 by Jerry Steinberg, is an international club for anyone who has never been a parent and isn't planning to be.
There's currently 44 chapters in four countries (including Canada and the United States). And each chapter determines its own fee structure according to its needs. Estimated membership is between 5,000-10,000 and is very diverse. There are singles and couples, various religions (and not), all zexual orientations, and people from all across the political and financial spectrums represented.
Vincent Ciaccio, the organization's strategic planning director, conducted a study revealing what motivates some people to be child free.

Among his findings:

The reasons for being non-parents were not wanting to sacrifice time, privacy, or personal space for children, having no compelling reason to have them, actively not wanting children around, being perfectly content with pets, and seeing the effects of children or family/friends.

Three subgroups emerged from this: Those concerned with the effects of childrearing on their lifestyle, those that just didn't like children, and those concerned about the environment and their own misgivings about their parenting ability.