Complete Without Kids: An Insider's Guide to Childfree Living by Choice or Chance by Ellen L. Walker

Jul 25, 2012 Mysterious rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: kindle-freebies, nonfic

I read this book to challenge myself on whether I wanted to have children enough to do it on my own. While I've greatly enjoyed most of the benefits of being child-free in recent years, nothing I read changed my mind about wanting to be a parent.

Part of this is because I feel very strongly about wanting children, but part of it is also because this book is not very good. It's not well organized, nor is it well written. Some of the arguments are circular - e.g. Don't have kids because sometimes t...more

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Jul 14, 2012 Sara rated it 5 of 5 stars

I had my kids in my early 20's and I've been very honest about not knowing what I was doing. Had I known how much work it was really going to be, how emotionally draining it was going to be, how hard it would be on my marriage, and how much of what makes me... well, me would be sucked away I would most definitely thought twice about having kids. That's not to say I don't love my children.

On page 32 I found a line that struck an immediate chord with me: "Dr. Jeffers emphasizes the difference bet...more I had my kids in my early 20's and I've been very honest about not knowing what I was doing. Had I known how much work it was really going to be, how emotionally draining it was going to be, how hard it would be on my marriage, and how much of what makes me... well, me would be sucked away I would most definitely thought twice about having kids. That's not to say I don't love my children.

On page 32 I found a line that struck an immediate chord with me: "Dr. Jeffers emphasizes the difference between loving your children and actually enjoying parenting them." and later in that paragraph, "The thing I regret most is that everyone told me how amazingly fulfilling and fun mothering is, without mentioning the negatives, and especially the fact that once you sign on for the job you cannot quit." Those two lines alone sum up my feelings. I love my children dearly but I would by lying if I said that I haven't had many days where I question what the hell I was thinking when I decided I wanted children. The book also raises a really good question about whether discussing being child free by choice is a valid conversation piece to have with young girls in the same breathe as safe sex and/or abstinence. I know with my children I will talk to them openly about these things including how you don't have to have kids. I don't ever want to be that person that pressures my kids for grandchildren because I know first hand how difficult it is to be a parent. Not everybody is cut out for it, yet you don't really hear that in Sex Ed, do you? I know when birth control was discussed it was always, "take it until you're ready to be a parent" but nothing really beyond that.

What's really great about this book is that it doesn't sway your opinion. I didn't walk away from reading this book feeling strongly about either side, I could really relate to both sides. I also felt like the author did a tremendous job talking to real life people from all types of economic standing and backgrounds to really give you a full perspective as to why some people choose to be child free. And those who would like to have kids but can't for a multitude of reasons, there is adequate perspective from them as well.

What I also really valued about this book was the absolute honesty about what parenting does to a marriage. I know most couples think that because they have started their marriage strong that it only helps them with parenting. While that is true, it's good to have a solid marriage before you bring kids to the mix, it fails to recognize what a huge stressor it is to have kids. I will say that every single marital issue Matt and I have ever had was directly related to the stress of parenting. We are no longer the people we were when we got married- not even close. I would venture to say the high divorce rates would be tied, at least in some way, to society's push for people to have children. It was mentioned in this book that childless couples are frowned upon in most circles, not because it's a bad thing but because it's not the norm. The norm is for people to get married, buy a house, have some kids, and live happily ever after yet that rarely happens. Also mentioned in the book was how couples with children find it hard to stay connected and eventually drift apart; therefore it becomes difficult to co-exist once the children are grown. They no longer have the common threads holding them together- those had been long gone. Sure you can go on date nights but people frown on that too, don't they? Most people, usually other parents themselves, will make a person feel guilty for spending time away from their kids. I would venture to say almost all of the time it's because they have feelings of jealousy because that couple can and they can't.

I have struggled with this myself. It took me almost five years to figure out I need alone time. I need time away from my husband and my kids to make myself not cry every single night and to not feel like driving my car off a bridge just to check out. I need that time away to be the quality parent my children deserve and a good wife that my husband needs. But I'll tell you- when I schedule a weekend away, or I sign up for a class, or I go to dinner with a friend I have some people around me that scoff and try to make me feel guilty. And it's too bad because I wish they would support me trying to be a better person for my kids.

Also in this book it talked about how friendships change when you have a childless friend and the rest are mommies. I have a couple of friends who don't have kids or who choose to not have kids and I feel bad. I can't always do what they want because... I have kids. I sometimes feel like they have a hard time connecting with me because we don't have a lot in common? My days are full with crying, chores, and kid related things and that makes it difficult to relate sometimes. I can only imagine how hard it would be to be child less and have all of your friends have children.

So all in all- the book was fascinating. I really enjoyed reading it and for me, I felt better about how I was feeling as a parent. Society frowns upon those of us who are not loving parenthood and all that comes with it and it's too bad. Just because I don't love to sit and play Barbies doesn't make me a bad mom. It just means I was ill-prepared for what I would really be signing up for. I always tell people I know that are having babies or thinking about it to really look at the reasons they want to have a kid. Is it because you want to be loved? Because that's just a temporary fix. I know I wanted kids because it was just what you did when you got married. I never questioned not having kids, I just knew I would because it's just what you do. Sounds a bit archaic when I think about it but how many young women think that right now?

I highly recommend this read for anyone. It really opened my eyes to a lot of different child free living assumptions that I hadn't considered before, several that I haven't mentioned. This is a superb book, very well researched and well written.(less)

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May 21, 2012 Robin rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I happened upon the Kindle version of this book during a promotion in April of 2011, when it was first published. The newest edition was published on 5/15/2012. If previous comments are true it was to correct poor formatting and spelling errors. It even has a new ISBN number.
Setting all that aside, I picked this up during a promotion and was glad I did. I’m in my mid 40’s and my husband had a vasectomy last year giving us official ChildFree status. The book gave me the validation I hadn’t reali...more

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Jan 21, 2012 Teena in Toronto rated it 3 of 5 stars

This was an interesting book ... I enjoyed it.

I've always known that I didn't want kids. When I was 30, I chose to do something about it ... and I've never regretted it. I don't feel like I missed out on anything.

I was the oldest of three kids and it fell to me quite often when I was growing up that I was taking care of my brother and sister. So in a way, I feel like I've already raised kids and experienced that responsibility, thanks!

When I told my mother many years ago that I wasn't going to h...more

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Oct 02, 2011 Eva Nickelson rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: non-fiction

There are a few reasons I disliked the book. First, the evidence is mainly anecdotal, and what little statistically evidence is presented in an unclear way (although I will admit I didn't check the sources). Second, while I enjoyed her premise of three types of child-free adults (by choice, by happenstance, and by circumstance), her follow-up chapters focused on living without children. It seemed to be geared towards teenagers who do not already know the benefits of being an adult. I was not sur...more

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May 28, 2011 Kitty rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: positive-thinking, kindle, non-fiction, freebies-kindle

As someone who has, after years of careful thought, decided not to have children, I liked the idea of a book that supported the idea of a child-free life. Unfortunately, the idea was better than the book.

I think this book did try to give an unbiased opinion on the subject, showing both positive and negative side effects of a child-free life. Perhaps it would be helpful to someone who's still making that decision. However, it seems to me that most people reading this book are doing so because th...more

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May 12, 2011 Andrea rated it 1 of 5 stars

One of the few books I've read for the first time this year.

I realize it's a bit late for me, but I had a hard time finding similar books back when I was trying to decide whether or not to have kids and so I downloaded this when I saw it was available for free.

The author is a psychologist who, primarily through therapy with patients, has spoken with a number of people who do not have kids.

She divides such people into three basic categories:

childfree by choice (never wanted kids),
childfree by cir...more One of the few books I've read for the first time this year.

I realize it's a bit late for me, but I had a hard time finding similar books back when I was trying to decide whether or not to have kids and so I downloaded this when I saw it was available for free.

The author is a psychologist who, primarily through therapy with patients, has spoken with a number of people who do not have kids.

She divides such people into three basic categories:

childfree by choice (never wanted kids),
childfree by circumstance (wanted kids but couldn't have them), and
childfree by happenstance (might have wanted and/or really wanted kids but never got around to it due to lack of the right partner, etc., until it was too late).

Some of the people she interviews seem to fall into more than one category. The author herself appears to fall into the third category, but I get the impression that she's trying to convince herself that it was a conscious choice of hers not to have kids rather than "happenstance."

I only gave it one star because the writing is very mechanical and impersonal, the author cites very little research or evidence (other than anecdotal evidence based on her own experience and interviews of patients and other volunteers) to back up her assertions, the editing is fairly lax (full of a typo where the "h" is often but not always dropped from words beginning in "th", and it's too bad the book isn't organized according to the three categories and/or according to some of the people she interviewed.

I guess I expected to come away from reading this at least somewhat ambivalent and more thoughtful about my own decisions, but if anything, I feel kind of glad I'm not like some of the people profiled in the book. I just don't feel that the author did a very good job of making the case for not having kids - it's more a book on how to survive despite not having kids than a book on how to thrive because one doesn't have kids (which is what I thought the book would be about based on the title).

(less)

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May 05, 2011 Suz rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: kindle, non-fiction

I was super disappointed in this book.

I picked it up on Amazon for free, and I was really excited, as a childfree person who doesn't see much "pro-childfree" literature anywwhere. I admit that I was curious what this "Insider's Guide" might be.

I cannot, for the life of me, decide who this book was aimed at. If you are childfree, then there's no new information here you wouldn't have figured out on your own (surprise! Childfree/less people are just like everyone else, only, don't have children!)...more

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May 03, 2011 Susanna rated it 2 of 5 stars

I was disappointed with this book. It was interesting to read other childfree persons' stories, but the author really seemed to distill out of them the pieces that fit best with her own history. I found the range of possibility narrow and conventional. For one thing, it is not because people have children that there is an environmental catastrophe right now--it is because of the consumer habits of people (mainly in the industrialized West) who live a lifestyle based on instant gratification. It...more

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Dec 06, 2011 josh rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: anyone old enough to breed

Recommended to josh by: shelf at UAPL

Shelves: non-fiction, sociology, psychology, women-s_studies

one of the best books i've read this year. this being the 48th book of the year, that's saying something. a great, rational discussion on the pros & cons of choosing to be childfree. i slammed it out in 2 sittings.

there's just so much i can say about this book, i have no idea where to begin... one of the main themes in the book is one of personal responsibility. many people overlook the responsibility aspect of having children. consider that over half of all pregnancies are unplanned. look a...more one of the best books i've read this year. this being the 48th book of the year, that's saying something. a great, rational discussion on the pros & cons of choosing to be childfree. i slammed it out in 2 sittings.

there's just so much i can say about this book, i have no idea where to begin... one of the main themes in the book is one of personal responsibility. many people overlook the responsibility aspect of having children. consider that over half of all pregnancies are unplanned. look at the amount of people that require government assistance to raise children & the high levels of subsidizing that take place.

many individuals reproduce because it's what's expected. they pay little heed to their ability to pay for the child, their ability to care for it (for the rest of their or its life, whichever should end first), fail to consider genetic conditions that could lead to increased risk of illness, defects, etc or even consider the time and emotional commitments required, and often overestimate the stability of their partnership prior to doing so (if they're actually in a partnership).

the author cites studies indicating that marital satisfaction decreases after the arrival of a child, that parents often decline in productivity in the work place (and by extension, in contribution to taxes that pay for the services they draw upon more heavily than those who pay larger taxes as a result of not having extensive credits for reproducing), declines in personal development, lower levels of healthiness, less time, increased stress, lack of mobility, and constant responsibility for another human.

granted, much of this assumes that the parent is involved in their child's life - as we all know, some parents are worthless fucks who should never be allowed to reproduce in the first place.

additionally, the author spends a great deal of time discussing the impacts on those who choose to remain childfree in terms of their relationships with their friends (which often falter when those individuals do reproduce), the additional need for retirement planning (as they lack a younger generation to assist them in their twilight years), and their need to justify their decision as if there is something wrong with them b/c of their choice.

this book is a good step to showing the younger generations that there are options other than "find someone, marry them, reproduce, set your life on hold for a few decades, then maybe have a chance at being happy again"

i would go as far as saying that this should be required reading for anyone capable of breeding. (less)

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Jan 13, 2012 Ally rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-in-2012

I have three groups of friends. Those friends who have children, those friends who do not have children, and those friends who do not want children. I have wanted to be single my whole life, and I do want children someday. I have never assumed that people who did not want children were people who hated children, (because after all, I don't hate men.) Until I read this book.

Here are some things my friends who do not want children, and those of us who do not yet have children, have NEVER expressed...more I have three groups of friends. Those friends who have children, those friends who do not have children, and those friends who do not want children. I have wanted to be single my whole life, and I do want children someday. I have never assumed that people who did not want children were people who hated children, (because after all, I don't hate men.) Until I read this book.

Here are some things my friends who do not want children, and those of us who do not yet have children, have NEVER expressed about those friends that do, that, according to this book, is felt by many childless people. *spoilers below*

"If we must have mother's day and a father's day, we should also have a childfree person's day. After all, WE'RE the one's saving the earth from destruction by not adding to the population." Hello, genius. We have Earth Day for that. Also, when you decide you don't want to be parents, it is largely because you don't want to have to DO anything. I have no intention of celebrating that, you are not doing that for anyone but yourself, but if you want to, good for you. The interesting thing is the amount of childless couples who list freedom to travel as one of the perks of being childfree. Someone want to name five things that raise your carbon footprint faster than air travel? I'm curious.

"It's ridiculous she got time off work to care for her sick child. I don't get time off work when my cat is sick." Um. I honestly don't know what to say to this, except that the people in this book honestly don't think they hate children. But your CAT is a largely autonomous being. If she were to leave that child at home alone? She would probably get arrested. Also, I have actually been in a situation where I was called into work, and had to tell them no because my dog was in dire health and the vet had told me not to leave her alone. Maybe you just need a better job?

"If I had kids, I would just stop trying to be a whole person, because that's what happens." It's NOT what happens. My mother was a parent at 15, and when I went off to college, she still had a lot left to give, so she became a foster parent. In addition to raising an entire second family, she sells Avon, works part time in a hair salon, and plans most of the get-togethers for our large, extended family. For some people, finding continuous and creative ways to nurture IS the finding yourself.

and then of course, "I am tired of all these financial perks given to families. If you can't afford children, you shouldn't be having them." I suppose it comes from being childless and supporting yourself most of the time, but you cannot predict accurately how much it will cost to have a child, and society does not often offer the support needed to be a parent. And considering everyone in this book says, at some point, they make a conscious decision that it was too much effort for them to even consider such an unpredictable lifestyle, you'd think they could afford to be a little less condescending toward those brave enough to take the plunge. But apparently, not.

I went into this book with an open mind, honestly. I bought it because it was cheap, but also because a friend of mine had a fertility scare a while back, and it got me thinking about my own future. I hoped by reading a book about how nice it was to not have children, I would not be so afraid to not have my own, if it worked out that way. But this is not a book about how great it is to not have children. This is a book about how horrible it is that so many OTHER people have children.

Though the book insists several times that neither the author, nor the participants hate children, they all seem to transfer that hate directly onto parents. While to some extent I understand, in the same way that I hate weddings because I don't want to get married and I'm tired of the fact that every time there is a wedding someone asks me when I'm going to get up there, I would never say the kind of disparaging things about someone else's marriage that these people say about other people's parenting. They all seem to be of the opinion that every child is unprepared for and/or unexpected, and take on a tone of moral superiority: If everyone thought as hard about it as they had, their's would be the more popular choice. But for a select few, we are all apparently, lemmings, breeding for the sake of some long-redundant urge to keep the human race alive.

I am really glad that these people have thought so hard and made such a wise decision. With a few exceptions, most of the people in this book are not the kind of people I would want to see reproducing anyway. (less)

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Aug 17, 2011 Beth rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: kindle, memoir-non-fiction, self-help

This was a free Kindle download on Amazon. I think I would've been pretty upset if I'd paid real money for this. I don't think this can be considered a "guide" to anything, nor is it really written in a self-help format. It seems more like someone's attempt at writing a term paper, with a bunch of citations from personal interviews thrown in. It's all quite disjointed, and the editing is TERRIBLE. I can't tell you how many grammatical and punctuation errors there are in this book! It's like some...more

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Aug 01, 2011 Melissa rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: nonfiction

I enjoyed reading this book because it presented the perspective of a childfree life, and it was interesting to step inside that life and "see" and understand it. I appreciated that the author noted that people who are childfree come to that place in their life in different ways -- some because they always knew they did not want to become parents, some because they physically could not become parents, and some because life circumstances simply worked out that way. Everyone has his or her own uni...more

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Mar 14, 2012 Lacey Louwagie rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: non-fiction, self-help

Wow, for once I actually gave a book a higher star rating than the "average," which hardly ever happens! Still, a three-star review from me doesn't mean a whole lot -- it's not a book I'll remember, but I won't snark on it *too* much, either. For this particular book, I wonder if the low average rating (2.86) is further proof that we really do live in a society that is overly "pro-kid."

Although Ivan and I both feel pretty sure that we want kids, we also both possess a part of us that is hesitant...more Wow, for once I actually gave a book a higher star rating than the "average," which hardly ever happens! Still, a three-star review from me doesn't mean a whole lot -- it's not a book I'll remember, but I won't snark on it *too* much, either. For this particular book, I wonder if the low average rating (2.86) is further proof that we really do live in a society that is overly "pro-kid."

Although Ivan and I both feel pretty sure that we want kids, we also both possess a part of us that is hesitant. I thought reading a book like this would be a good way for me to further explore that before I made any big, permanent decisions, like, popping out a baby. And although this book claims that one of its purposes is to serve as a "guide" to younger women (i.e.: women still in their childbearing years) about the choice that is available to them, it didn't really feel like that. Instead, it felt like a group therapy session for people without kids, where they got to re-affirm one another about their decisions and to gripe a little bit about kids or their friends who have kids. And while I definitely see a place for that -- any minority group needs a place where they can know they aren't alone, and sometimes a book is the only place you can access that realization -- the general negativity toward kids expressed in this book started to grate on me. Although many of the contributors swore that they didn't "dislike children," and I believe them, it was sort of frustrating to hear them bemoan how they "never saw" their friends who had kids anymore -- but in the same breath admitted to disliking it when those same friends brought their children to events friends were participating in together. Having maintained close friendships with people who have kids, I felt that the contributor's general sense that their friends should "separate" from their kids for the sake of their friendship was irksome, when I wanted the childfree adults to just accept that their friend had a kid and welcome that child as part of the friend that you love.

This book also felt a lot longer than it needed to be -- a lot of it could have been said better in an article than a book. I didn't really need to hear 25 times that childfree adults had so much more FREE TIME and how much they LOVED THEIR FREEDOM. I guess these are good points to people who don't realize that, in having kids, they'll give up a bit of both of these things, but this book didn't really bring anything to the table that I hadn't already thought about myself. Also, this book is definitely skewed toward "childfree by choice" sentiments, glossing over the stories of women who wanted children but weren't able to have them, and even, at one point, accusing those women of not properly "integrating" their experiences when they couldn't "get over" not being able to have kids. Still, if this book makes childfree adults feel less alone, and if it helps people who just assume they'll have kids consider that decision more consciously, then I'm glad it's out there in the world. It just wasn't for me.

[Also, the ebook formatting was done really poorly on this one, and the questions at the end of each chapter felt pretty elementary.](less)

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Jul 19, 2012 Rachel rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: non-fiction, partially-read

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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May 22, 2011 Mina V rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: non-fiction

I thought that, overall, the book was an excellent way to talk about why people choose to be childfree, and identify themselves with the word "childfree" as opposed to "childless". I don't believe, however, that childfree is the term to use with people who want kids but can't have them for some reason -- those people are childless as the lack of children make them feel they are missing something. For those of us who don't feel we are missing out on something by not procreating, the term to be us...more

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Jun 22, 2012 Angela rated it 3 of 5 stars

Like some others in this forum, I found this book when it was first published and free. I was excited to find writings on the choice to not have children and gave it a chance. My favourite take away was the term "childfree" vs. "childless". I don't feel like I'm less anything for not having kids.

I was one of those people who decided at a young age that I didn't want kids and was always told that I would change my mind one day. It was demeaning and frustrating to be told I didn't know my own wish...more

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Feb 29, 2012 Stacy rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-in-2012, self-help

Usually, people who don't have kids are put in 2 categories: those who don't want them and those who don't have them.

I am glad that this book mentions a third option: those who did not become parents due to situational factors (it just never happened). I fit into this category. In the earlier years of my marriage, our finances would not have made children possible. Now that I'm older, my husband and I just don't have that desire to be parents. I wouldn't rule out adopting or fostering later, but...more

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Mar 15, 2013 Alyson rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: non-fiction

If you're already comfortably childfree, reading this is sort of a waste of your time. I was hoping for more of an examination of personality types of those whose choose to remain childfree, and while that is touched on here (though, without any research to back it up; it's just Walker's impression that the childfree may strongly value quiet and independence), Walker quickly glosses over this information and moves on. The writing is sort of bland and meandering, made up mostly of interviews with...more

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Mar 11, 2011 Vicki rated it 1 of 5 stars

Okay, before anyone gets all sad that I read this book, understand that there was a really good review for it in Publisher's Weekly. I was intrigued, as it does describe one part of my life, the part without kids. But the author is very rigid in her definitions (you either choose not to have kids, don't have kids by default of not making the choice and time making it for you, or are physically not able to have kids), and it really started to bother me. She also is pretty self-congratulatory and...more

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Mar 25, 2013 Kalyn rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: non-fiction

While I do appreciate some of the points made in Complete Without Kids, I feel Ms. Walker wrote this book only to validate her own decision to remain childfree.

The subtitle implies this publication is “an insider’s guide”, but it wasn’t filled with brilliant writing and childfree tips as I originally would have thought. Instead, Ms. Walker uses multiple stories to back up her claims and many of the couples are used repeatedly throughout the book, only in different circumstances.

Read the full rev...more

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May 06, 2011 Dan rated it 2 of 5 stars

I got this for free on Amazon and was intrigued to learn about a subculture of people without children. Unfortunately, the author focused almost exclusively on people who have chosen not to reproduce and didn't have much to say about people who are unable to have children. Still it was interesting to hear people describe their lifestyle and choices in their own words. But yes, like everyone else has said on here, it was a bit self serving and the author used most of the quotes from other "childf...more

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May 15, 2013 Moira rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: culture, current-affairs, essays, ethics, self-help, womens

Examines the rationale, rewards and challenges that childfree adults face living in a world that celebrates traditional families. Offers perspective on how to cope with the pressure to have children, take advantage of freedom, and other considerations (such as environmental, financial). While I appreciated the community this book fosters, I thought it could have been better written & edited - it reads like a long paper or Masters' thesis. I found myself thinking, "really, how did you extrapo...more

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May 04, 2013 Loosheesh rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: calibred-n-own, nonfiction, family, social-issues, reflects, 2013-books

Some thoughts ...

Finishing this was an absolute chore. The information is disorganized and leads to repetition, where the same points are made over and over, just presented differently. The arguments are unconvincing, and seem self-serving. Anecdotes from the same individuals/couples are used throughout to bolster the author's arguments, and then she would chime in with a teeny weetle story of her own (which drove me batty to the point of wanting to scream "who in the heck cares?!") to cement th...more

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Jul 14, 2011 Martha☀ rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: childfree, ebook, non-fiction

Ellen Walker conducted interviews with a wide variety of childfree adults - including those who are childfree by circumstance or by choice - and analyzed the many aspects of their lives which are impacted by not having children. There are chapters on finances, leisure time, societal pressures, baby fever, etc. Each section of the book ends with 'questions to consider', allowing you to look closely at your own life and examine how you have dealt with each topic.
This is not a book which tries to c...more

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Jul 26, 2011 Louise rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: non-fiction

I read this book looking for guidance on how to live a life as a childfree person: how to handle criticism, how to plan for the future, and how to make my life a fulfilling one without children. This book didn't exactly provide the answers, but the questions to consider at the end of each chapter helped me get started on the right path. One criticism of the book is that it isn't statistically based; the book revolves around anecdotes from several childfree people. Although I thought that would b...more

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Apr 06, 2011 Katherine Coble rated it 2 of 5 stars

This was some pretty basic stuff. I got the book free on Kindle and since Childfree is such an uncommon lifestyle I was excited to see what the author and her interview subjects had to say.

Sadly there was nothing here I couldn't get from spending the same amount of time on Childfree Internet fora. It's less a "guide to Childfree living" and more an introduction to the concept. There were a few nuggets of truth but the author backed away from anything that could be seen as controversial.

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Jun 15, 2011 Lindsay rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: z2011, non-fiction, kindle

Unfortunately this book didn't really live up to its potential. Sure, it had some thought provoking points on being childfree, but the authors sample size was pretty small, and most of the information was anecdotal, rather than researched. It also didn't really delve that deeply into some of the controversy between those with children and those without, and was pretty badly formatted (I think there was a problem with the 'h' on the authors keyboard!).

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Nov 28, 2011 Courtney rated it 3 of 5 stars

Kind of self-help y but nice to read someone with a positive take on choosing not to procreate. Likely a good book for people on the fence with some good questions to ask, encouraging everyone to make a conscious decision rather than just letting children "happen". Also makes a strong case that the era of tax incentives for bringing more humans into an increasingly overpopulated planet is outmoded and unfair.

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Apr 15, 2011 Rebecca rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2011, ebook, non-fiction, topical

I was expecting more from this book, I don't know why. It was very one sided, yes I have choosen the childfree path, but I don't think it's all so much more rosier than a life with children. I did find out that my choice to be childfree is dispised and looked down upon, either I've been living under a rock or it's another part of the book where she plays into stereotypes.

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title link	preview: Complete Without Kids: An Insider's Guide to Childfree Living by Choice or Chance
avg rating	preview: Complete Without Kids: An Insider's Guide to Childfree Living by Choice or Chance Goodreads rating: 2.87 (146 ratings)
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BBCode	[url=https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9208092-complete-without-kids?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1347402286l/9208092.jpg[/img][/url] [url=https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9208092-complete-without-kids?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]Complete Without Kids: An Insider's Guide to Childfree Living by Choice or Chance by Ellen L. Walker[/url]

Complete Without Kids: An Insider's Guide to Childfree Living by Choice or Chance

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