Making the childfree choice: Perspectives of women living in South Africa

This article explores heterosexual childfree women’s decisions and the ways in which they negotiate their childfree identity in the context of pronatalist expectations. A convenience sample of seven women living in South Africa were interviewed about their rationale and experience of being childfree (black = 5; white = 2; age range 22 to 53). Findings following thematic analysis of interview transcripts indicated that the participants’ reasons for making the childfree choice included: familiarity with mothering duties and activities, personal career and academic goals, and practical reasons associated with finances, or not having a suitable parenting partner. The women reported that they used various strategies to negotiate pronatalist sociocultural expectations, including playing along, passivity and active resistance through active adoption of a strong pro-childfree stance. The findings corroborate feminist theoretical views that women are active agents who negotiate pronatalist sociocultural norms and expectations and engage in active reproductive decision-making.