On not being a grandmother

It's always interesting to read first person accounts from people who made the decision not to have children while they were in their 30's and who are now going into their 50's and 60's. 

When I was writing Baby or Not? One of the most interesting interviews I did was with a woman in her 60's who had decided not to have children.   She has had a rich and varied career as an artist and had never had the desire to have children.  She did say that occasionally now she felt once in a while a small pang of regret now that many of her peers were becoming grandparents.  Yet her feeling was that those small pangs of regret were part of being human - that we would not be fully human if we never had feelings of regret.

I found a lovely article is from Jane Fallon reflecting on how the decision not to have children made many years ago impacts on her now.  In the article, she talks  many of the issues that my interviewee mentioned as well.

I love how she acknowledges the conflicting emotions  that she feels about her choice now and then how the article ends on a positive choice to look at how she will address the unintended consequences of not having children.

http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2016/jan/16/jane-fallon-ricky-gervais-ill-never-be-a-grandmother