Introduction In our society it is accepted and celebrated when a woman decides to have a child. It is considered normal and obvious, even expected, that women want to marry and raise children. But what if a woman decides that motherhood is not a role she wants to pursue? It often then becomes an issue of social concern when a woman makes public her decision to remain childfree. Women who are voluntarily childless are often …showed first 75 words of 2292 total…

…showed last 75 words of 2292 total…remain childless. Journal of Marriage and the Family. 61 (2): 531- 539. Hird, Myra J., and Kimberly Abshoff. 2000. Women without children: A contradiction in terms? Journal of Comparative Family Studies. 31 (3): 347- 366. Knight, Les U. 2001. Voluntary Human Extinction Movement, <http://www.vhemt. org/> (8 April 2001). Leatherby, Gayle, and Catherine Williams. 1999. Non-motherhood: Ambivalent autobiographies. Feminist Studies. 25 (3): 719-728. Morell, Carolyn M. 1994. Unwomanly conduct: The challenges of intentional childlessness. New York: Routledge. No Kidding. <http://www.nokidding.net/> (8 April 2001).