On Being Childfree: My Story

Welcome everyone! It’s International Women’s Day 2019 and I’m finally, finally, getting round to something I’ve been meaning to do for the longest time. This is my new weekly series called “On Being Childfree”, where every Friday I’ll be sharing a different story from someone who has encountered judgment or been made to feel a lesser person, because they don’t have children either by choice or circumstance. I’m also opening it up to those who have one child and have encountered the same intrusive questions and judgment. My hope is that by sharing different stories, we can help people who may be going through something similar to feel less isolated, to know that happiness and fulfilment is perfectly possible. I want to end the stigma and the taboo, to rid use of the word ‘childless’. Thank you so much for your support, if you would like to share your own story please email me on booandmaddie22@gmail.com

Regents Park Open Air Theatre

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We Are: Lins & Pete, 39 & 47

Home Is: SE London (the best ;))

I Do: Currently self-employed as a full-time blogger after leaving my corporate job of nearly 16 years in December

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Do you have a favourite memory? It’s hard to choose one isn’t it? I’ve sat on the edge of the Grand Canyon marvelling at nature. Walked barefoot amongst overwater bungalows in Bora Bora. Run two half marathons when at one point in my life I was so unfit I could barely walk down the end of my street. Watched Slash perform his amazing November Rain guitar solo in both London and Berlin. Screamed myself silly from the stadium at the Paralympics in 2012 as Johnny Peacock beat overwhelming favourite Oscar Pistorius…and we all know what happened to him. Pete says that one of his favourite memories is me jumping up and down, yelling “COME ON PEACOCK” and it forever makes him giggle when he needs cheering up. I could probably write 50 books on the wonderful moments in life and yet somehow, we’re told it’s not enough.

We still talk about that evening. It must have been the end of 2013 when we found ourselves taking a seat in an auditorium at Guys Hospital in London along with many other couples. I can’t remember if there were 50 or 100, but we do remember the hope, the desperation etched on faces, the questions about “guarantees” and “success rates”. But in the world of scientifically creating a baby, there are no guarantees. We think now about the small percentage of couples from that evening who will have their babies. The larger statistic is around those couples who will no longer be together.

It’s a strange thing, this passage through life. We advance so much and yet can still be so backwards in what society, family, friends expect us to achieve. When we got married, I was 27 and Pete was 36. We didn’t get married to have a family, we got married because we wanted to be together. I suppose we just assumed that a family would happen one day but not with the same ‘need’ that some people have described. I have people in my life honest enough to admit that their partner is there because they wanted a family, rather than the being the dream forever person. Different storm, different port.

Shattered but happy after finishing the Richmond Half Marathon in 2016

And of course no sooner is the wedding dress a crumpled heap on the floor than the questions start coming. When, when, when. Never. Ending. From anyone and everyone, because for some reason in this 21st century, the only purpose of a woman is to have a child. And you know what? I was so duped by that notion I pumped my body full of chemicals, convinced that I wouldn’t be good enough otherwise.

We hadn’t been together very long when we got married, only a year or so and only one of my friends at the time was married with a little baby. It probably took us longer than most to wonder if there might be something “wrong” (even that is terminology that I’d love to see abolished) and after so many doctors appointments and tests and prodding and poking, we were officially classed as having “unexplained infertility” and advised we had a round of IVF free on the NHS at Guys & St Thomas.

With my never-ending positivity I just assumed that it would be a walk in the park. Surely all the people who’d been through it and said how brutal it was were exaggerating. But god knows, I’ve been through some tough things in life and IVF is right up there with the worst of them. It was a bittersweet process as I started my injections on the same day we picked up the keys to our wonderful, forever home and I committed to getting that first injection done beforehand, so we could enjoy running around our new empty home without it hanging over me.

Grand Canyon, 2014. We’re heading back here in July and I can’t wait!

And the weeks went by and the daily trips to Guys for scans before work. One nurse said to me she loved seeing me because I would always come in with a big smile on my face and so happy. I guess that’s my trademark. Somehow you have to get through it. But then a routine scan showed something that hadn’t come up before, that I have a septate uterus. It doesn’t make pregnancy impossible but it does reduce the success rate significantly. They suggested I continue with the IVF as I was already half way through it and I did but in my heart and mind I knew it wouldn’t work. A couple of weeks later, it was over. I had a half day booked at work already but let me tell you how those 12 hours went. Morning: strategy meeting at work. Afternoon: heading to set up a night market for my online retail business, ironically selling baby and children’s clothes. Evening: one of my closest friends announced the birth of her first baby. It wasn’t a good day.

And the worst thing was, feeling so alone and so isolated through it all. Yes, it was my choice not to share what I was going through with the world. But it was because I thought the world would judge me. I was born in the 80s, a teenager in the 90s and the constant rhetoric was about women having it all. Smashing glass ceilings whilst raising 10 children. Well, I exaggerate but I’m sure many of you may remember the references to ‘Superwoman’. There’s no getting away from it, you feel like a Big. Fat. Failure and I 100% take my hat off to women who can pull themselves together enough to get straight back on that hormonal rollercoaster but it wasn’t for me.

It’s a cliché but time really is the greatest healer. I grieved, we both did but with my pragmatic hat on, life carries on. I’d been having acupuncture alongside the IVF, with the intention being to try and address my problem with coldness which my acupuncturist was convinced was due to a hormonal imbalance, which in turn he said meant that life would be unsustainable. If blood doesn’t flow properly around the body, it can’t support a growing person. I had an operation in the summer of 2014 to resolve my ungainly pear-shaped failure, mainly because I really like going under general anaesthetic. Seriously, it’s the best sleep you’ll ever have, you come out of it feeling so refreshed. And still nothing happened. But no matter how much I thought about it, I didn’t want to go through any cycles again. There was no need in me, no urge in me.

Celebrating my 30th birthday in 2010 at an 80s theme night

I started talking to people about it but what was I’m sure well-intentioned support just ended up making me feel so angry inside. Friends saying “Oh but you’d make such a great Mum”. WHAT? What about being a brilliant all-round person? By this point in my life, here’s just some of what had made me proud:

  • Graduating with a 2:1 in my Bachelors degree
  • Spending my second year studying in the US
  • Moving to London at 21, completely self-funded I should add. No-one was bailing me out on rent money
  • Completing a PgDip in Journalism
  • Spending 6 years as a Samaritan at the largest branch in the country and ending my time there as a co-Director, consulting on national policy around suicide
  • Running my own online business alongside my job and Samaritans
  • My then 7 year marriage, we’re now approaching our 12th anniversary this summer
  • Buying our home in the city we love

This isn’t intended to be an opportunity to brag, but when everyone hung their heads and gave me their pity look, it infuriated me. People said “what about surrogacy or adoption?” but not one single person ever said to me that I was amazing and brilliant and would find a different happiness and had already achieved fulfilment and would continue to do so. WHY? This isn’t the 1600s. WHY when two women can have a baby or two men can have a baby, rightly so, are people still so judgmental towards women or couples who don’t, whether by choice or circumstance.

The Break Is Over
Waiting to see Guns N Roses in Berlin last year

I now very much describe myself as someone who is childfree by choice. The reason I describe it as such is because I do completely believe in surrogacy and adoption if you truly want a child. Loving a child is so much more important than giving birth to one. We chose not to continue with further cycles of IVF, we chose not to go down the surrogacy or adoption route. We are childfree by choice. And it’s not childless. I’m not missing anything, I never had it in the first place. I’m not to be pitied or told I won’t know love or told I’ll regret it.

In the years since we’ve found a different happiness. It’s not lesser, it’s not better, it’s just different. We got Maddie in the summer of 2014 and if I had a pound for every time someone told me she’s just a baby substitute I’d be wealthier than Bill Gates. But we both grew up with dogs and she was always part of the plan, children or not. I found a new lease of life at work when lots of new colleagues joined at the end of 2015/beginning of 2016, and 2016 and 2017 were genuinely two of the best years of my life thanks to them. I couldn’t have imagined missing out on the amazing friendships we made, the travels and nights out. They reminded me what it felt like to be young and carefree and I’ll treasure them forever.

Boo and Maddie

Now we have our adored little fur family – and it IS a family. A family isn’t defined by having children. We have our home that may be the death of us but we’re so, so lucky to live somewhere we’ll never outgrow and we can spend the rest of our days here. Someone once said to me “well that’s all well and good but it’s very materialistic”. Maybe it is, but so what? I refuse to sit in the corner, rocking backwards and forwards. We have 2 nieces and 3 nephews, 3 godsons so definitely no shortage of children in our lives, it makes no difference that they’re not our children.

There is something else that I’m meant to do in this life, aside from being a mother. Hundreds of millions of people have children. It’s nothing new or special, it’s been happening for centuries. But making a positive difference to the lives of others, the lives of strangers? Not many people can say they’ve tried to do that. Thank you from the bottom of my heart to anyone who has made it this far and to all the incredible support I’ve had from complete strangers cheering me on via Instagram. I wouldn’t have done this without you. I’ve been absolutely moved to tears by the stories coming in from my future guests who will be appearing in this same spot in the coming weeks, all sharing their stories, all wanting to try and make a difference, to shape an alternative future for women. Parent or non, we all have so much to offer. It’s my greatest hope that this blog series can help break down the barriers to women’s purpose being seen as “just having a baby”. Florence Nightingale didn’t put up with that shit, neither should we.

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42 Comments

  1. Steph
    March 8, 2019 / 7:34 am

    Beautifully written and good luck with your new series, it will be wonderful to hear so many different journeys

    • Lins
      Author
      March 8, 2019 / 9:39 am

      Thank you Steph! It’s been an honour to read all the stories coming in so far, all different, all valuable. We are together X

  2. March 8, 2019 / 7:35 am

    This post made my heart swell with pride. So eloquently written and with so much feeling! I’m so so happy that you’re doing this! Having a child isn’t the be all in life, but people sure like to make you feel like it is! I’m so happy you’re going to be sharing these stories. Xx

    • Lins
      Author
      March 8, 2019 / 9:41 am

      Oh Emma, you’re someone who has always inspired me constantly with your honesty, your reality, your positivity. I’m so glad we’ve “met” and hope we can enjoy a beer together very soon Xx

  3. March 8, 2019 / 7:59 am

    Happy Friday Lins. Happy International Women’s Day. Thanks for sharing your family’s story and congratulations on launching this series to help others. You’re doing it x

    • Lins
      Author
      March 8, 2019 / 9:43 am

      Thank you Marion, for all of your support. I am so appreciative Xx

      • March 8, 2019 / 9:47 am

        I can’t seem to start my own comment so adding to another! Lins this is a brilliant post, you are such an incredible person and I am proud to call you my friend xxx

        • Lins
          Author
          March 8, 2019 / 10:23 am

          Thank you so so much Ruth, absolutely right back at you. You were one of the first people I knew to have a child who told me you wanted to do more for yourself and I’m so grateful we had that conversation Xx

  4. Kimberley B
    March 8, 2019 / 8:01 am

    I could not have put it better myself! Beautifully put and so heartfelt! I love the piece about your nieces and nephews! I feel the same about my nieces and nephews and my closest friends children , it really doesn’t make a difference that they are not mine I love them all as if they were

    • Lins
      Author
      March 8, 2019 / 9:46 am

      Thank you Kimberley for taking the time to read and comment. It absolutely doesn’t matter how we show love and to whom! It can be our children, or someone else’s. To our pets or to strangers. People are so wonderful if we would only come together to cherish and support one another X

  5. Sam (@JustAFewChanges)
    March 8, 2019 / 8:06 am

    Oh Lins this is chuffing marvellous my dear. I’m so pleased and proud that you are doing this and am honoured to be a part of it – once I get my arse in gear. Wishing you nothing but love and happiness to you and your family xxx

    • Lins
      Author
      March 8, 2019 / 9:48 am

      I’m so so delighted to have you on board Sam, to help show that we are all unique and beautiful and powerful, no matter what our backgrounds, choices, circumstances. It’s time for change Xxx

  6. March 8, 2019 / 8:10 am

    Wow Lins what a way to kick off this series!! Fantastic!! You really have poured all of the mixed emotions into this post. Thank you so much for starting for conversation x

    • Lins
      Author
      March 15, 2019 / 9:11 pm

      Thank you Lydia, I’m so glad we’re underway and I think it will just grow from strength to strength X

  7. March 8, 2019 / 9:25 am

    Hi
    I have only recently come across your blog and IG. It was through another blogger I follow during your manic secret kitchen project and I have thoroughly loved your updates. I have also been moved and inspired by your honesty sine you started talking about this series and couldn’t wait to read this post.

    I do have a child and probably would have gone to the ends of the earth to be a mummy, but that is what I wanted and craved. Being a relative late mum at 39 I did start to sorry but then I met my hubby so my dreams were made. I have a brilliant life with my family and feel incredibly lucky.

    However, I have friends and colleagues that didn’t/don’t feel the maternal pull or just circumstances have led to them being without and what is equally brilliant is that they have fabulous and fun filled lives. People assume they “don’t like children” and something must be wrong and they couldn’t be further from the truth. In fact, quite the opposite. They have lots of little ones in their lives and are completed in the moment with them whenever they see them and the children love them for them.

    I just don’t get why we judge those with different choices to motherhood, we don’t judge on careers, holiday destinations, homes we live in. We are fortunate to live in a world where we have choice.

    Women are so much more than carriers of children and we should (every day and not just on International Women’s Day) celebrate our strength, success and choices and not judge on our own needs.

    I felt compelled to comment on this and believe me that doesn’t happen often. But well done on opening the conversation and I cannot wait for the next installment.

  8. March 8, 2019 / 9:46 am

    Aww Lins, you are such a superstar and I feel super privileged to know you! Thank you for your story, thank you for spreading this positive message and educating people. Is it crazy we have to yell it out for people to understand in 2019?! Yep. Happiness takes so many different forms in life, it’s naive to think there’s only one path to it xxx

    • Lins
      Author
      March 8, 2019 / 10:12 am

      And thank YOU for championing this and supporting all the well Kimberly, I feel equally honoured to know you who who have helped me so much with encouragement all the way!! Here’s to the future and ending the stigma Xxx

  9. sheila LORD
    March 8, 2019 / 10:28 am

    I never wanted children and then found myself pregnant at the age of 40. Don’t get me wrong, I love my son dearly but it is hard. If I knew then how hard it would be, would I have done it? Probably not. My life was full and fun without children and ts full and fun with them. No-one should ever be judged for not having kids and I am surprised that this still happens today. We are strong women in charge of our own minds and bodies. Sometimes people just need to learn to respect other peoples choices and lifestyles. xxx

  10. Molly
    March 8, 2019 / 10:33 am

    I’m grateful to you for bringing this to light. The pressure to have kids seems never ending and I feel like maybe it’ll stop when I go through menopause. But even still.

    I live a life about experiences, not raising children. I believe wholeheartedly my life is how it should be. Childless.

    Also, for those people who say: “but kids are about having family.” I have a family. It’s just not made out of babies.

  11. March 8, 2019 / 12:59 pm

    What an beautiful, positive, honest and empowering post. You are one incredible gal and a big YAY for finding one’s own happiness wherever it can be found.

  12. Alaina
    March 8, 2019 / 1:12 pm

    A brilliant read! You really hit the nail on the head with this. Go Lins x

  13. March 8, 2019 / 3:05 pm

    Great post! It’s nice to see someone tackle this issue and I’ll be supporting you all the way. Talk soon, Luke.

  14. March 8, 2019 / 4:55 pm

    Lins, this is better than I could’ve ever imagined – bursting with pride for you and your bravery to open up to the world about this topic. Happy IWD & I hope you never forget the fact you are an INCREDIBLE woman <3

    Peace & love,
    Jord

  15. Melanie lissack
    March 8, 2019 / 5:21 pm

    This is a very interesting and brilliantly written piece Lins. Even though I have a son, I remember the constant bombardment of expection as a newly wed. Now the assumption is that we only have 1 child because he is disabled when in fact it’s out of choice. Looking forward to the rest of the series!

  16. March 8, 2019 / 6:42 pm

    I thought I’d commented on this earlier today, but it seems not! This is a fantastic way to kick off your series Lins ❤️ So much courage to start this conversation. Xx

  17. Faye
    March 8, 2019 / 10:26 pm

    What a great piece. My boyfriend and I are 37 & 47 respectively and are constantly asked when we’ll have a baby. We’ve been together for 17 years and have never so much as tried to get pregnant. We know it isn’t for us, despite loving kids. My nieces are fantastic but I know I don’t want one of my own. I love my job, we are taking on a renovation project (of a 1930s house) which I’m so exited by it and we have an 8 year old fur baby but many people will never understand my point of view. Sadly it seems like this will never change.

  18. Adam Langley
    March 8, 2019 / 11:58 pm

    So happy you’re putting your story out there. Not only is it good for you, but is clearly inspiring a lot of other people. Hopefully as others share their experiences too, everyone can gain a bit of extra clarity. Parenthood exists within such a complex web of social and personal experiences I think it’s often difficult to know what the truth really looks like. But the great thing about blogs such as this is that people don’t have to feel alone. Xx

  19. Rebecca
    March 9, 2019 / 7:22 am

    Thank you for this. It’s beautifully written and gives childfree people a voice to say,this is my life and I’m happy. People think because we won’t have IVF that we didn’t want it badly enough. Looking forward to reading this weekly x

  20. T
    March 9, 2019 / 8:37 am

    Thanks so much for being honest about your perspective (in such a well written way). As a 39 year old, just married woman, I’m getting the same questioning along with a deaperate/pitying look in their eyes. The truth is I just don’t know – I never have. There is absolutely no yearning inside me for them – there never has been. When I do occasionally think that I should, I worry it’s just because I’m scared of “regretting it”. (That’s of course assuming it’s even possible and at my age I’m aware it’s unlikely.) So if I’m honest there’s not a day at the moment that doesn’t go by when I’m not grappling in my head, going back and forth with the same arguments. I find it’s extremely difficult (currently for me, impossible), to work out whether you’re feeling you want something because you geneuinely want it, or, “wanting” something because it’s so ingrained in our society and our way of life as a culture that you think that’s what you want… Perhaps I’m more scared of regretting having them, than regretting not having them. (And yes I do believe there are people who regret having them, this doesn’t mean they don’t love them or they’re bad parents, and to admit that really is one of the last taboos and that too is wrong.)

  21. Naturalgrace1. Ann
    March 9, 2019 / 9:54 am

    Refreshingly honest and thank you for sharing your journey. There is judgement all the way through a woman’s life it seems – I do get tired of it. However, I feel so proud that as a woman you have been able to put in print your story and this will help thousands of women who have similar experiences and also to women who have children and have made judgement, that they can learn and discover humility, kindness and empathy and that not everyone’s path is the same.

  22. Liz
    March 9, 2019 / 10:53 am

    Love this for lots of different reasons. I’m a mum but reflect often on how my life would have been if I wasn’t.. you lose a lot of yourself and I think celebrating and exploring women on another path is so important. I have 3 daughters and would love them to consider motherhood a choice in the same way they’ll make lots of other decisions about who they are and what’s right/wrong for them without the weight of expectation and others’ judgement. Happy International Women’s Day

  23. Debbie Harrington
    March 9, 2019 / 4:22 pm

    What a lovely post, a lot I can certainly relate to!!

    Myself and my ex husband never chose to even try for children, a conscious choice, despite being asked (and probably expected to) over and over again. Unfortunately as we are now divorced, I find myself in a new chapter (mid 30’s and heavily suspecting I’ll always be child free) excited about the opportunities and possibilities I have ahead of me so it’s great to read people’s stories that embrace being child free 🙂

  24. March 10, 2019 / 12:54 pm

    A beautiful and eloquent post – thank you so much for this new series. The isolation you speak of is so real, and social media certainly doesn’t help. It sounds silly, but knowing there are other childfree women out there is wonderful. Sometimes when I scroll through Instagram I feel like the only person who isn’t sporting a baby bump or a beautiful family. It doesn’t mean I’m not hugely happy for all the parents out there, but it does make me feel like the unpopular kid at school all over again. Your wonderfully positive words were just what I – and I should imagine many more – needed to read x

  25. March 11, 2019 / 2:21 pm

    I have only just managed to make some time to read this, and it is everything I thought it would be – a truly honest and heartfelt account of your story, and it upsets me so much to think that anyone could assume there is anything at all missing from your life – you are one of the happiest and seeminly most fulfilled people I “know” (and I know we don’t know each other in person, but I’ve been following you nearly all the five years you’ve been blogging and I totally feel like we’re IRL friends!).
    Now that I have a child, I realise what a bloody huge commitment they are, and completely life-changing. I adore Emilia with all my heart, but I also loved my life before her too, and I don’t see why one type of existence is seen as the ‘normal’ when the other is not. They are just lives, to be lived as we want to (insofar as we can). I think it is completely wrong to pressure anyone into thinking they ought to have a child because society deems it the thing to do. It is absolutely not for everybody, nor is it anybody’s business what someone else chooses to do with their time on this earth. And I agree – there are few people brave enough to start something as wonderful and needed as this series. Bravo Lins! xxx

  26. Vic
    March 14, 2019 / 11:44 am

    So so beautifully written and so bang on point about fertility, choice and the having it all generation.

    • Lins
      Author
      March 15, 2019 / 9:01 pm

      Thank you Vic for taking the time to read and your kind words X

  27. LyndsT
    March 15, 2019 / 11:17 am

    Your bravery is amazing. I am not talking about that which led you to keep smiling while tackling the challenges, or that which assured you made your choice. Your bravery is most evident in your ability to reveal yourself in such an open and public way because you know it will help others be true to themselves.

    I often think about sharing my own stories but I haven’t been brave enough myself.

    Your friend , the other Lyndsay (who always thought you wanted to be childfree)

    • Lins
      Author
      March 15, 2019 / 9:03 pm

      Ahh thank you so much Lynds! I think it takes time and distance to want to share, and sometimes not everyone will want to. But I think little by little hopefully society will change the way we see challenges in having children and be more embracing of those who choose not to (or perhaps settle at one) X

  28. Lynn
    March 15, 2019 / 12:50 pm

    What a wonderful and honest post. You are completely on the mark. In this day and age women should be seen as way more than just a mum. Like that is all we are capable of.

    Now I write this as a mum of 5. But I’m also a finance manager with a FTSE 35 company and a mean DIYer. My life is so much more than just my children. They are part of my life but not it all.

    Also, you may constantly get the “when” question. .I constantly get the “how many”, ” not got a TV” comments since child 3. It’s uncomfortable…so much so I was actually dreading telling anyone about baby 5.

    Look forward to reading the rest of this series.

    Lynn
    @pickletullum_pig_in_a_poke

  29. Renata
    March 16, 2019 / 9:55 pm

    This is beautiful, thank you for sharing your story and talking about a subject that is a bit taboo. Xx

  30. May 5, 2020 / 3:34 pm

    Hey. It’s Sally (@sissinghurstlocationhouse). I only realised today you wrote a blog and I have just spent the last hour reading. Thank you for sharing your story. I have a few friends who have chosen or not chosen not to have children and I can’t tell you how interesting and helpful I found reading your post. I’ve loved getting to know you better on insta and now I look forward to reading more of your posts xxx

  31. Emma (@party_at_the_gaze)
    October 9, 2020 / 4:38 pm

    Just come across these Lins. Well done you. I have 2 wonderful girls but they came late on, with failed pregnancies and lengthy “trying” periods, c-sections, continuous bleeding leading to early emergency deliveries and stays in intensive care. So the “so when are you having kids” question is still one that baffles me when said with such nonchalant disregard for the fact that for some it’s not “the most natural thing in the world” that “women have been doing for centuries”. We are lucky but we’ve also kept our own identities as a couple. Because actually life was pretty good before them and would have continued to be pretty good if we hadn’t been so lucky. So I absolutely do not see it as being the be all and end all and 100% support and champion anyone who finds themself child free through choice or otherwise.

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