Childlessness

In contemporary Western society, there are higher numbers of infertility cases than ever before. In addition, there are more women and men choosing to remain childless. Those who do have children have them later and have fewer; and increasing numbers of babies are born following some form of medical assistance, from self-administered donated sperm to medically sophisticated procedures such as egg donation. World fertility surveys and national censuses suggest that virtually all permanent childlessness in the developing countries is involuntary. Falling birth rates stimulate many concerns, and throughout the world, ideologies of motherhood (and fatherhood) and expectations to parent affect all women and men, whether or not they are parents. Arguably, these ideologies are more of an issue for women, as the ideal view of woman is synonymous with the image of the ideal mother.

One response to the disjunction between the ideology and the experience of motherhood is a focus on “the right to choose,” which is defined in terms of the right not to have children. Yet, feminists and others have suggested that choice in this context is something of a red herring, because of the expectations and ideologies of ideal womanhood. In addition, even if it is possible to decide not to have children, it is not always possible to choose motherhood, which is often dependent on ideal biological and social conditions.

Yet, issues of kinship and the fear of genetic death are significant in contemporary Western society, which can be demonstrated by the rise of surrogacy and posthumous sperm donation. Furthermore, motherhood remains a primary expectation for women, which means that childless women are often defined as “other,” although the terms voluntarily childless and involuntarily childless lead to different responses. Voluntary childlessness is often associated with selfishness, while involuntary childlessness can incur pity. Motherhood is associated with full adulthood; therefore, women without children are sometimes viewed as less than adult, like children themselves. There are many ways in which women have become mothers (biological and social), and there are many ways to have children in one's life; for example, as a teacher, aunt, godmother, and friend. However, there appears to be no description of the childless nonmother other than to refer to what she does not have.