Pride and Joy: The Lives and Passions of Women Without Children

I am 34 years old, and have been happily married to a wonderful man for the past year and a half. My husband and I have not yet made our final decision as to whether or not to have kids...but we are certainly leaning in the direction of perhaps choosing not to raise a family of our own. This book came to me at the perfect time, and has been a wonderful resource for me as I work through the very important decision of whether or not to become a parent. Like many of the women in this book, I am blessed to have a lot of great kids in my life...my friends children, plus 14 nieces and nephews that I "inherited" when I got married. I enjoy my time with them, yet do not feel any strong pull to go through pregnancy, childbirth, and the lifetime commitment it takes to parent a child to adulthood. It was a joy and a relief to read that I'm not weird, strange or missing some sort of "womanly gene" because I don't want to have a baby. Thankfully, my husband and I are on thesame page right now. We both enjoy our freedom and our time together, and feel that we can still be important and loving influences in the lives of kids around us without necessarily being parents ourselves.This book is a wonderful testament to the fact that women can have truly fulfilling lives without having a child of their own. I would highly recommend it to any woman who is weighing the option of motherhood!

I am 34 years old, and have been happily married to a wonderful man for the past year and a half. My husband and I have not yet made our final decision as to whether or not we'll have kids...but we are certainly leaning in the direction of perhaps choosing not to raise a family of our own. Reading this book was very comforting in that it affirmed that I'm not weird, strange or missing some sort of "womanly gene" because I don't want to have a baby right now...or maybe not ever.Like many of the women in this book, I am blessed to have a lot of great kids in my life...my friends children, plus 14 nieces and nephews that I "inherited" when I got married. I enjoy my time with them very much, yet do not feel any strong desire to go through pregnancy, childbirth, and the lifetime commitment it takes to parent a child to adulthood. One of the greatest messages of this book is that a woman who chooses not to be a parent can still be an important and loving influence in the lives of many kids around her.I would highly recommend this book to any woman who is seriously weighing the options in regards to having kids. This book has been invaluable to me as I go through the process of deciding "to parent, or not to parent." Whatever my final decision, it gave me a good feeling to know that there are many women out there who are extremely happy with their decision to remain child free.

If you listen to conventional "wisdom" about women's roles in life, you would believe several sweeping generalizations, such as * childless women are not quite whole; * childless women don't care much for children, and are generally antisocial and antifamily; * childless women are selfish;... and a whole host of other statements which obviously can't apply to all childless/childfree women.Casey's book gives us an important glimpse at women who have chosen not to have children. These women are vibrant, social, and satisfied. Many are happily married, and most are involved with the children of friends and relatives. They contribute to their communities-- in fact, they have more time, energy, and money for such pursuits than their friends who are mothers! Supporters of the arts, sciences, political action, social efforts, and education, Casey's subjects are a great value to the cities they live in and the circle of friends they keep.So much for the bitter-old-crone image of childless women!

I found Pride and Joy a welcome oasis in the desert of mainstream thought reguarding parenthood. Terri Casey pulls down the facade of conventional wisedom to reveal another point of view considering women and motherhood. The stories of these child free women were touching and inspirational. The interviews gave a striking retort to the banal dogma of woman as the powerless functionary of human reproduction. That a woman can be happy, live a creative, full and meaningful life without being a mother is an important concept which we all must come to accept if we hope to have a more civil society and healthy planet.

I suppose I'm biased because I'm one of the women interviewed in the book and have met about half of the women. But I think the book is very well written as well as aesthetically pleasing. It's the only book I know of about this subject that focuses on the postive. Everyone chosen for the book made a conscious choice not to have kids and doesn't regret it. Each has a facinating and fulfilling life. Surprisingly, many of the women in the book have chosen not to have their own kids but for some, kids still play an important part. This book contains interviews of a widely diverse array of women. It includes why they've made this choice and what they do with their energies instead. I've given copies to my 15 year old niece and to several women friends. A great gift this holiday season. MSN Underwire has an article by the author about this book.