The ‘pregnancy list’: Women on TikTok are sharing the reasons why they don’t want to have children
Some women know they want to be mothers from an early age, others aren’t quite sure – and some know, without a shadow of a doubt, that kids just aren’t for them.
While it can still feel taboo to say you don’t want children, more women are choosing to live life child-free.
Official ONS figures show that more women than ever before are reaching the age of 30 without a child.
In fact, more than half (50.1%) of women in England and Wales born in 1990 were without a child when they turned 30 – the first generation to do so.
Of course, there are dozens of reasons why someone might not want kids, and child-free TikTokers have been compiling lists of reasons why they absolutely do not want to go through pregnancy, birth or motherhood.
Be warned: if you’re in two minds, this could be the clincher. The lists are long.
TikToker @yuniquethoughts has come up with 350 compelling reasons to avoid becoming a mum, while @thelifeofronny has 125.
Some cons, like ‘morning sickness’ and ‘preeclampsia’ aren’t surprising – in fact lots of health issues made pregnancy lists – but others were more creative.
For example, ‘child could come out with teeth’, ‘you can’t eat during labour’ and ‘you can develop a lightning bolt sensation in your crotch’ were listed as reasons not to go through birth. (FYI, not all of these are strictly true.)
When it came to actually raising the child, ‘they will call you ugly,’ ‘they always loose one shoe,’ ‘they snitch on you,’ and ‘they could murder someone (accidently)’ were all valid cons.
The price of raising kids was also seen as a definite disadvantage to motherhood, with one TikToker saying that with the money saved, she could ‘spend one night at the world’s most expensive hotel’ or ‘buy an insane amount of tacos.’
And the lists are striking a cord with child-free women everywhere – a video by @yuniquethoughts has been viewed 3.4 million times.
‘This is incredible, thank you for your service,’ wrote one commentator, while another added, ‘I’d buy this book and gift it at baby showers.’
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