Complete Without Kids: An Insider's Guide to Childfree Living by Choice or by Chance

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. (Jan.)