The pregnancy trap: an exploration of the childfree movement and the overturning of Roe v. Wade.
A choice to be childfree
‘My body, my choice’ is the feminist slogan that we have all heard permeating reproductive rights movements and issues associated with bodily sovereignty and abortion, as well as other feminist affairs. Dr Nikki Hayfield’s introductory lecture on childfree identities urged me to reflect on my thoughts about having children of my own. I think I do someday, but I am dubious about when, or with whom, or by what means. It is bizarre to me that I am now the age my mum was when she had me, I cannot imagine having a child now, I feel immature and besides, the progression of my education is occupying me. As an openly queer white woman living in the UK in the 21st century, I am conscious of my privilege, this idea of self-ownership and freedom of choice when it comes to childbearing feels axiomatic, despite my grandma often voicing a desire for me to find a ‘nice man’ so that she can one day have great-grandchildren. I am aware however, of the more extreme cultural and historical multi-faceted control that women have faced about the decision of whether to become a parent.
Pronatalist policies have been integral to societies and religions such as Islam, Christianity, and Judaism throughout history. Motherhood was depicted as an ‘institution’ (Rich & Born, 1976), and as a role that women are expected to want to fill (Basten, 2009). Women in western cultures were granted more bodily autonomy over pregnancy and childbirth when access to contraception and legal abortions was introduced (Staggenborg, 2001), and reasons for voluntary childlessness and abortions include avoiding childcare duties (Houseknecht, 1987), individual freedom (Gillespie, 2003), climate anxiety (Hamity et al., 2019), and a lack of resources to support a child (Kirkman et al., 2009). Earlier this year, the Office for National Statistics reported that half of women in England and Wales have reached their 30th birthday without having a child. However, this was not a comprehensive report, it only focussed on women, and made no distinction on whether their childlessness was a choice. This sexist data both shocked and angered me, emphasising society’s obsession with women’s bodies, and considering the recent overturning of Roe v. Wade, I have been thinking a lot about what state-sanctioned forced birth means for the progress of the childfree movement, human rights, and reproductive choice.
A so-called selfish life
Motherhood is framed as the pinnacle of the adult feminine experience (Gillespie, 2000) and the decision to not procreate, especially when people with a uterus make that decision, is deeply stigmatised to this day. Firstly, there is racial discrimination within attitudes about childlessness of which I was unaware. African American mothers are viewed more approvingly than their childfree counterparts, while perceptions of white women based on their parental standing differ much less (Vinson et al., 2010). Infertility in women elicits commiseration and support, with treatment focussed on achieving a pregnancy, while voluntary childlessness has been regarded as deviant, unfeminine, overly career-focussed, and selfish (Blackstone & Stewart, 2012). The patriarchal undertones of these attitudes as well as the biomedical concepts are alarming yet not surprising; male religious leaders claim that childbearing is God’s will, and Wajahat Ali, a male writer and pundit, urges women to have babies to revitalise world economies. He stated that his having a child was selfish, bringing him immense pleasure. So why does a man get to be selfish, but a woman does not? Why is it seen as bad for women to be selfish when childbirth is the leading cause of death for teenage girls in developing countries (Mayor, 2004), and when most abortions are obtained due to being ill-prepared to support a child due to immaturity and financial and relationship concerns.
Following the discourse that women who opt for a childfree lifestyle are selfish and should be treated with contempt, award-winning filmmaker Therese Shechter directed a pioneering feminist documentary called My So-Called Selfish Life, which uses examples from popular culture and experiences of happily childfree women to explore pronatalism and voluntary childlessness through an intersectional lens, challenging notions of a woman’s ‘biological destiny.’ In an interview, Shechter asserted that ‘If a woman can’t control her reproductive life, she can’t control the rest of her life.’ The documentary was stimulated by the abortion debate in America, highlighting the analogous stigmas of abortions and being childfree, and Dr Kimya Nuru Dennis explores the unique challenges for people in BIPOC and LGBTQ+ communities. Whilst I have vaguely known about reproductive justice issues like Poland’s Constitutional Tribunal banning legal abortions in 2021, I have been mostly oblivious to the worldwide prominence of misogynistic and racist threats to reproductive rights, and the irony that as childfree conversations increase, so does the challenge to be childfree.
A world without Roe v. Wade
The recent overturning by the US Supreme court of Roe v. Wade, a case that prompted the legalisation of abortions in the US in 1973 means that twenty-six states will introduce new restrictive abortion laws and millions of US women will lose their constitutional right to an abortion, causing a spike in unsafe and life-threatening procedures. The news has disseminated through the media and captured my attention, providing a current and worrying affair which has broadened my understanding of the real-life implications associated with the childfree identities content on the module.
Pro-choice advocates and people around the world have been disputing this controversial decision. Leading US feminists who have experienced life before Roe v. Wade such as Bonnie Greer and Mona Eltahawy have shed light on how this is a destruction of women’s agency, disproportionately affecting people of colour and working-class communities. They also consider the lack of liability for the people impregnating women, which is because it is not about babies, but about eradicating women’s rights by dictation of religious and conservative extremists. British citizens must realise that this is not an American problem, as other European countries such as Malta also have acute abortion constraints in place. With a misogynistic worldview that wants to recover female submission and traditional gender roles, everywhere is imperilled. The choice to remain safely childfree post impregnation is in severe jeopardy; we must now stand in solidarity with people with uteruses around the world suffering reproductive injustice, be more inclusive of transgender and non-binary people, and spread awareness and resources.
References
Basten, S. (2009). Voluntary childlessness and being childfree. The future of human reproduction: Working paper, 5, 1–23.
Gillespie, R. (2000). When no means no: Disbelief, disregard, and deviance as discourses of voluntary childlessness. In Women’s Studies International Forum (Vol. 23, №2, pp. 223–234). Pergamon.
Gillespie, R. (2003). Childfree and feminine: Understanding the gender identity of voluntarily childless women. Gender & Society, 17(1), 122–136.
Hamity, M., Dillard, C., Bexell, S. M., & Graff-Hughey, C. (2019). A human rights approach to planning families. Social Change, 49(3), 469–492.
Houseknecht, S. K. (1987). Voluntary childlessness. In Handbook of marriage and the family (pp. 369–395). Springer, Boston, MA.
Kirkman, M., Rowe, H., Hardiman, A., Mallett, S., & Rosenthal, D. (2009). Reasons women give for abortion: a review of the literature. Archives of women’s mental health, 12(6), 365–378
Mayor, S. (2004). Pregnancy and childbirth are leading causes of death in teenage girls in developing countries. BMJ (Clinical Research ed.), 328(7449), 1152–1152.
Rich, A., & Born, O. W. (1976). Motherhood as experience and institution. New York, 284.
Staggenborg, S. (2001). Reproductive Rights in Affluent Nations. International encyclopedia of the social & behavioral sciences (Vol. 11). Amsterdam: Elsevier.
Vinson, C., Mollen, D., & Smith, N. G. (2010). Perceptions of childfree women: The role of perceivers’ and targets’ ethnicity. Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology, 20(5), 426–432.
