Voluntarily Childfree: Identity and Kinship in the United States

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Description

Voluntarily Childfree discusses what it means to make a life worth living without traditional parenthood. Themes include authenticity and autonomy; partnership and support; fulfillment of the need to nurture; freedom of choice; and a desire to simply leave the world a better place than we found it. Most poignant, despite the stigmas of selfishness and solitude, the voices in Voluntarily Childfree speak of commitment to a different type of family that includes romantic partners, friends, pets, and future generations through mentorship and leading by example. At their core, the human desire to connect and be heard remains.

Reviews

Voluntarily Childfree shows us that kinship is not limited to those we've reproduced or even those of our same species, and that whether or not we become parents is at once a most basic and essential piece, and also just a very small part, of the complex that makes up our identities. Readers will delight in coming to know Shelly Volsche's childfree subjects and the full, fascinating, and complete lives they lead. -- Amy Blackstone, University of Maine

Author Bio

Shelly Volsche is lecturer in the Department of Anthropology at Boise State University.