‘Why Don’t You Want Kids?’ ‘Because Apocalypse!’ | WIRED

This story is part of a week-long series on reproduction, from prenatal testing to male birth control.

Are you pregnant yet? Dont you like kids? Well, its different when its your own child. Being a parent is the most important job in the world. Youre being a bit selfish. What if your parents had decided not to have you? Speaking of your parents, isnt it cruel to deny them the joy of grandchildren? Besides, who will take care of you when you get old? Youre just saying that because youre young. Youll change your mind. Your biological clock is ticking! What if your kid cured cancer?

If you dont have kids and dont want them, apologies: Youve heard this all before from well-meaning relatives, friends, coworkers, cashiers, taxi drivers, crossing guards. If you do have kids and youve said anything like the above, the childfree community would like to let you know that youre not being as thoughtful and caring as you (maybe) mean to be.

See, all of those questions and statements are forbidden by the bylaws of popular subreddit r/childfree, where theyre known as bingos: clich phrases parents say in an effort to convince the childfree that their decision is wrong, and that they are shirking their societal duty by not reproducing. The subreddit is a forum to vent about being antagonized by mombies and daddicts. More importantly, its a place for users to speak openly about choice, offer stories and support to others, and share advice about how to respond to bingos or convince doctors to sterilize them.

By now, some of you might be forming a hard nugget of disapproval for the snarky childfree redditors. Youre far from alone: Multiple sociological studies have found that voluntary childlessness often sparks immediate disdain and moral outrage, even from total strangers. The stigma knows no race, religion, gender, or border. Researchers have found similar negative judgements of childfree adults everywhere from India to Italy to Israel. (If youre having trouble imagining the hostility, try typing childlessor even better, childless millennialinto Google.)

Still, fertility rates in the United States (and everywhere else) continue to drop. And contrary to certain hypotheses, voluntarily childfree people seem to rarely regret their choice. r/childfree has nearly half a million subscribers, and similar communities exist on just about every social media platform.

For the childfree, the reasons to consider childfreedom extend beyond baby hatred, questions of bodily autonomy, or suboptimal finances. Concerns go broader, ranging from the economy to politics to climate. We basically have 12 years until the planet is an apocalyptic hellscape, says Justine, a longtime r/childfree member in her early thirties. We aren't as lucky as our parents, and they seem to have no idea how much more difficult it is to get by for us than it was for them.

When responding to crusading parents who might try to convince them out of their stance, many childfree people use prepared scripts, formed by years of entertaining the same inquiries. They know theyre working against ingrained biases: The childfree are keenly aware that they are prefigured in the eyes of most as a band of entitled, disrespectful millennials, trading tradition for self-interest.

Continued here:

'Why Don't You Want Kids?' 'Because Apocalypse!' | WIRED