The Turning Point Series – Call for Entries from the Childfree AND Parents!

Aren’t you all tired of listening to me? I am. I’d rather hear from you.

I recently did a book review for Being Fruitful without Multiplying (what a name!) – a collection of essays, categorized by age, from women in their 20’s, 30’s, 40’s and 50’s, about why they decided not to have kids. Some of it sounded very familiar, echoing the sentiments I’ve laid out here. Others made me look at the issue in a whole new light. But all of it was pretty fascinating, and somehow it just felt good to hear from people going through the same experience.

As many of you have said in your comments on the site or in personal emails to me, it’s such a relief to know you’re not the only one feeling this way, with these doubts and questions rattling around in your brain. You seem to find comfort in my posts (a scary notion, frankly). But what if you could hear from tons of other women (and men!) in the same boat, who might have a different take on the subject that resonates even more clearly with you?

What I’m looking for are essays to share here on Maybe Baby, Maybe Not about your own turning point – whether it was to have children or go permanently Childfree. What made you decide – was it a certain event or just an educated decision or have you always felt it in your bones? How do you feel about your decision now – any regrets? What would you say to others who are still trying to decide? You can tackle any or none of these questions. For those of you with me in the Land of Limbo, I’d love to get something from you on the LACK of a turning point on this decision.

Anyone who would like to share their story can email me at liz [at] maybebabymaybenot [dot] com. There’s no length restrictions, but if you’re reaching Harry Potter page counts, I may have some trouble posting it. Something in the 250 – 750 word count range would be lovely, give or take a couple hundred if you’d like to write a haiku. You can choose to remain entirely anonymous, or use just your first name, a pseudonym or a fake name (I do hope I’ll receive an entry from Art Vandelay!). Feel free to give your entry a clever little title, or not. I’ll post them here every now and then in addition to my usual posts, but I won’t be able to publish anything that’s openly disrespectful to the lifestyle choices of other people – so no Childfree or parent bashing here please! I also don’t really have the wherewithal to deal with the fallout of posting something that’s overly religious and disrespectful of those who are not religious. Since I’ve got new readers coming to the blog all the time who may want to contribute, this will be an on-going project with no deadline to submit.

If you’ve enjoyed reading the blog, or gleaned any nuggets of insight here, I hope you’ll consider contributing a little something to The Turning Point Series that might help someone else in their decision. Um, and me. Don’t forget about me.