Psychotherapist Jeanne Safer, author of the 1996 book Beyond Motherhood on why not all women are destined to become mothers—and that's okay. In the episode we discuss:

-Anticipating—and fearing—our parents’ responses to us writing on this subject

-The value in accepting the cold, hard facts, for healing family dysfunction

-Why being a “woman without kids” is still seen as so taboo – and the internal questions that can arise as a result

-The liberation that results from staying true to what is right for you

-How attitudes have changed in the 25+ years since Jeanne’s book was published

-Working through the shame of feeling insufficiently “loving” as a non-mother

-The traits that equip a person for the “psychological vocation” of motherhood

-Why there is no life without regrets – no matter what path we choose

-Using the climate as an “excuse” for not having kids

-How the IVF industry plays to women’s fears that they will regret not having kids

-Grieving not becoming a mother – no matter how you feel about not having kids

-Why “mothering” is not inherently “feminine” and why it’s okay not to feel a maternal instinct

You can learn more about Jeanne Safer, and her book Beyond Motherhood HERE. You can also read her follow-up essay in Meghan Daum's anthology, Selfish, Shallow and Self-Absorbed: 16 Writers on the Decision Not to Have kids.

You can pre-order your copy of Women Without Kids: The Revolutionary Rise of an Unsung Sisterhood HERE.