Abstract
One-fifth of women in Britain reach 45 without having children, yet much of the literature around this age group views women as primarily mothers and biological specimens whose psychological health is affected by the menopause. This chapter is based upon qualitative research that asked how the decade between 45 and 55 is experienced by women who have chosen to remain childless. The concepts of choice, freedom, maternal instinct, temporality, selflessness and selfishness are deconstructed and explored from an existential perspective in order to shed new light on the often misunderstood phenomenon of being childfree.
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Coates-Davies, J. (2020). The Experience of Being a Childfree Woman. In: Arnold-Baker, C. (eds) The Existential Crisis of Motherhood. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-56499-5_13
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