‘Childfree’ not ‘childless’: The changing culture around choosing not to have children

Two quickfire topics for today’s episode. A listener writes in with some concern about a BBC article that explored the growing trend of people celebrating their choice not to have children, known online as being ‘childfree’. Is it a problem if people wish to rid the social stigma or shame about not having kids, in a world in which birth rates continue to plummet? And what does the Christian tradition think about people opting out of parenthood because they want to focus on their career, be able to travel more, or just don’t feel they have the emotional resources to raise children?

But first, we look at a pioneering medical science breakthrough, after an American surgical team successfully corrected an intestinal problem while a child was still in the womb. The media reporting on this has been understandably celebratory, but it does raise the question of doublethink in a culture which simultaneously lionises doctors for saving ‘babies’ while pre-term and also defends the rights of those same doctors to abort other children with the same congenital disabilities or health concerns if that is the mother’s wish.