Complete Without Kids
An Insider's Guide to Childfree Living By Choice or By Chance
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4.7 • 6 Ratings
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- $9.99
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
In Complete Without Kids, Licensed Clinical Psychologist Ellen L. Walker examines the often-ignored question of what it means to be childfree, by choice or by circumstance, in a family-focused society. Recognizing that there is no one childfree adult, the author guides the reader through the positive and negative aspects of childfree living, taking into consideration the different issues faced by men or women, couples or singles, whether gay or straight.
As a woman who is childfree by choice, Walker draws upon her personal experience while also offering the reader numerous interviews with other childfree adults, revealing behind-the-scenes factors that influenced their personal journeys. She approaches the tough-decision making process of whether or not to have children from a biological, historical, and societal perspective, offering valuable information on:
- The unique set of problems that childfree adults face simply due to living in a culture that celebrates babies and traditional families
- Methods to cope with the pressure to have children from media, family, and friends in a healthy way
- How to create balance and approach the leisure time allowed by a childfree lifestyle
- Financial, health, and personal benefits associated with childfree living
Offering support, guidance, and thought-provoking questions, Complete Without Kids is a productive guide for any reader considering the childfree path.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Licensed clinical psychologist Walker, "childfree" at 48, writes not only of her own experiences but interviews a wide range of other childfree adults (one fifth of women born after l975 are predicted to remain childfree, she reports). Walker identifies three types: those who are without children by choice, and those who are childfree by circumstance or by happenstance, placing herself in that third category, and conceding her choice may have been different had she married a man who wanted kids (hers has offspring by a previous marriage). In spite of her philosophical outlook ("life is about choices, and we can't take all paths") Walker explores the ambivalence that she and many other childfree couples feel, but she also discovers that many enjoy their freedom and leisure time, may be healthier and more financially fit, and have happier marriages than couples with kids. Though hoping to approach her topic from a "neutral" perspective, Walker bristles at "our national obsession with motherhood," and while neither antifamily nor antichild, she envisions a growing childfree movement that is shored up by changes in societal attitudes, the environmental crisis, and increasing awareness of the true cost of parenting. Childfree readers will find validation and support in this thought-provoking text.
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