One of every seven American non-parents of childbearing age is childless by choice. Does that stat from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) surprise you? I spend a good deal of time in the “no kids” cyberzone, and frankly, I would have thought the number would be a tad higher.
Perhaps it’s just that childfree voices online are louder and more prominent online. Seems as though the faces of ‘by choice’ celebs keep multiplying, too. A recent addition to that list is quirky but beautiful and soon-to-be-divorced Zooey Deschanel, 32. The actress told Marie Claire last April that children are not a priority.
“That’s never been my focus…My sister [Emily] was always very motherly, babysitting and stuff. I like kids, and I like being around kids –- but it was never an ambition, something, like, I need”, Zooey said.
Earlier this year, it was Cameron Diaz explaining why and how she’s living childfree. If the stats and estimates hold true, she and Zooey may be the beginning of a steady stream of A-Listers and others open to discussing their very personal decisions and situations.
Pushback over a woman’s private and individual decision to be childfree confuse me, and there’s been many of those “you’ll be sorry” voices online recently as well. One of the best responses to that comes from author and Internet sensation The Bloggess, a childless-by-chance NotMom. To people vexed about some woman's forever empty uterus, she asks a fundamental, though R-rated question: “Who the f*** cares?”
Celebs get a lot of heat for speaking out on all kinds of topics, but in every case, they're just giving a voice to thousands like you and me.
