In an earlier article, I addressed what it means to be childfree but people often conflate being childless with being childfree. However, these are two completely different scenarios and the differences are huge.
I’ll be clarifying the differences between being childfree and being childless and why it’s important to use the correct phrase in conversations in this article.
Differences Between Childfree and Childless
Being Childfree
A childfree person has made a conscious decision not to have children.
A childfree person has likely analyzed and investigated all pros and cons before deciding to opt out of procreating.
A childfree person has decided parenthood is not for them and they are very OK with that decision irrespective of what anyone tries to project on them.
Being Childless
A childless person, on the other hand, didn’t decide to not have children.
Uncontrollable circumstances such as health, infertility, etc took the decision out of their hands.
In some cases, a childless person may decide along the way that they’re better off without kids after all and start identifying as childfree instead of childless.
The distinct difference between the two is childfree women choose to be childfree while childless women didn’t make that choice.
Childfree women generally don’t like being referred to as childless and vice versa for childless women.
It’s important to be conscious of the word you use as the wrong reference can feel like a bullet to some women.
Neither childfree nor childless women owe anyone an explanation for their status.
There is also an emerging category known as childfree by circumstance which is slightly different from childless.
Women childfree by circumstance didn’t have kids because they simply never met the right partner and didn’t want to do it on their own. Somewhere along the way, they decided they were OK with it.
To be on the safe side, your best bet is to just not ask a woman what her procreation status is unless she brings it up. Hint – childfree people rarely do.
Minding your own business will never go out of style!
Childfree Chica is living her best childfree life and enjoying every moment of it. She funds her childfree adventures by making smart financial decisions and investing her money wisely. You can learn more about her and this community HERE. Interested in telling us about your childfree journey? Submit your story here.