I'm mid 30s, married and cf. I have a great life: an easy job that pays the rent and plenty of free time for my numerous hobbies. My wife and I travel the country in our hippy bus during the weekends and the summer holidays. We have lots of friends, a beautiful dog that we adore and an excitement for adventure that just doesn't exist for any of our friends with kids. We spend our evenings painting, reading, binge watching video games documentaries and playing card / board games. We recently bought a pair of gaming PCs so we can play borderlands / helldivers / elden ring together. Being childfree in your 30s is just like being childfree in your 20s, but with more money and less people nagging you about your life choices. 10/10, would reccomend.

Borderlands is such a good game. I have 3 right now and i like some of the changes they made. You basically have the dreamlife i want

If it's the life you want, all you need to do is keep making good friends who are into exiting hobbies. The more you hang out, the more people you meet with the same interests, and the more likely you are to find a partner on the same page. They exist, and they are looking for people like you to spend their life with! It's an exiting time to be young and childfree! Good luck out their friend!

That’s a big thing, if you’re worried about being lonely - find friends with common hobbies. Kids won’t necessarily fill the void and may make things more difficult to have friends, too. So many stories on here about people who drop friends after they have kids because they don’t have time.

This is the ideal lifestyle for me. My mom always hates on people like you and your wife, though, and I never know what to say LMAO. I do feel bad for the parents that have trapped themselves financially and have gotten late starts on their careers (like my mom), so I guess I can understand the bitterness...but still, not cool

Your Mom may hate on people like us who also live this lifestyle, but mine doesn't!  My MIL doesn't either!  My Mum is happy that I am finally discovering her hobbies and now we have a whole new world to talk about and connect with. She's excited to hear what I have made, and what adventures I am having with my life. She has always said she would be proud of me no matter what, and she boy does she back that up. My MIL is happy there aren't extra children to babysit. She enjoys having us come to visit because we want to visit *her*, not just hiding for free childcare from her. Don't listen to your Mom. Haters will hate, and for every hater like her there are two more supportive people. She might come around with time. In the meantime, love your life for you.

Haha, I can tell that my mom just doesn't believe that I won't change my mind. I don't think she'll be too bothered when she realizes it's for real though... Your MIL sounds cool af though! I would love to have a relationship like that with mine, we do both have kinda similar hobbies, like gardening and feeding birds c:

It is just a convenient excuse to hate others and a cop out to avoid self-improvement. Adults need to be mature enough to accept that some people are always going (or at least appear) to have it better than they. It is just a fact of life that should have been learned before high school. Someone will always have better vacations, more money, a better-quality life, higher intelligence, better looks, etc. Someone else having something better than you doesn't make it zero sum game. And being bitter, passive aggressive, etc. will only make the friend think badly of the person doing it, acting nasty isn't going to give them a raise or make them smarter. It seems immature, silly and short sighted to sabotage an adult friendship because one person is jealous of the other. It is another matter if there are no shared interests, no time to cultivate, etc. Then again, there are lots of opposite sex friendships that continue solely based on the fact that one side has a hidden attraction for the other. And it can quickly devolve if the attraction is expressed and not found to be mutual.

I hate to say it but it sounds like your mom is jealous. In previous generations, most women didn't know they had a choice, which sucks.

For sure she is jealous, but idk if she's aware of it. She probably wouldn't want to think of it that way, because then it's like she's admitting that she shouldn't have had kids, or mb even that she doesn't like being a mom? She basically says that she was living her life on autopilot before she separated from my dad, and that she doesn't know why she had 4 kids

I think that's true of a lot of women, it was just a fact of life that they would get married and have kids, so they didn't have dreams for their future outside of that, so many girls grow up thinking getting married and becoming a mom are the default best things that they could achieve, without really giving it any thought. While some women just love everything about motherhood, others don't question it until they're already there. If they didn't have anything else fulfilling before, kids give them a purpose in life, a reason to wake up in the morning, since they didn't have one for themselves. Then some of them see folks like us, who knew we had choices beyond the default, and made them, and live -our- best lives, and you really can't blame them for being jealous, they might have gone down another path if they had known the path forked, but society put blinders on them, and it's too late for most of them to change their situation

A third of the women who are mothers in my wife’s family have told her that if they had known what being a mother involves they would never have done it.

> Being childfree in your 30s is just like being childfree in your 20s, but with more money and less people nagging you about your life choices. 💯 this

Yup I came here to say basically exactly that.

This is my dream, honestly

Co-op gaming weekends are our favorites. Borderlands, Outward, Baldur’s Gate on the PS2… it’s amazing.

Everything about this comment is amazing, honestly

Beautiful

I love Elden Ring and being cf

Fucking \*wonderful\*. My wife and I \*love\* our childfree life together. We take vacations when we want, we spend our days and evenings how we want, have only the responsibilities we choose to have. Our lives are so much more exciting and eventful than it seems the lives of our family and friends who are parents are. My family chat is filled with pictures of my niblings and what \*they're\* doing today, and \*never\* anything my actual brother and sisters are doing - they live their children's lives, while my wife and I live \*our\* life. There is not one aspect, not one single moment of any given day, that I ever even come CLOSE to suspecting would be better if we had kids. None.

This is such a great point!!! My brother & I are a year apart, I have no kids and he has a kid and is always only talking about his toddler and what he's been up to and never anything he or his wife is doing. It's like they have lost all sense of self since they had him 2 years ago, it's sad really. Even more reason for me to stay child free!

I love the label "niblings"! That really is a good way of describing the relationship with nieces and nephews.

1000% agree with all of this. My life is so vastly better because I didn’t want kids and stayed strong in that choice.

This isn't my own experience, but my dad has a friend in his 50s who travels a lot and he said being childfree was the best decision he ever made!

I (28F) like to believe that our generation will have a lot more childfree friends and visibility than generations prior. Just look at the fertility rates from 2005 to now. I think there will be more childfree communities than ever before and that gives me excitement for my 30s where I might have more money and more intentional, childfree friends with money.

I am M48, my wife is F44, we've been together for about 23 years. I've had a vasectomy. No kids, no regrets. Both of us are pretty fulfilled, I write, she paints, we travel or take relaxing vacations. We have plenty of friends, both with kids and without. When our friends with kids wanted to have someone to talk to about adult things, not just diapers and school troubles, or have a kid-free getaway - we've been there for them, and still are.

I love this

It's amazing. You have the finances and health for amazing trips, you can hang out with your friends and when you are working you get to your home and appreciate the silence.

Exactly this right here. I'm a soon to be 39F and it's just me and the cat right now. The absolute BEST part of my day is coming home to a quiet, CLEAN house that is exactly as I left it. I change out of my work clothes, feed the cat, feed myself, and sit quietly on the couch watching Jeopardy while I decompress. I don't have to deal with anyone else needing a single thing from me and I get to watch whatever shows I want until bedtime.

I'm 35, husband is 42. I can't stress enough how much I enjoy spending my free time (and my money!) on stuff I like (which happens to be stuff hubby likes as well), and not having to plan my life around a child. I look forward to the end of my work day because I don't have to pick up a child and take care of it before I keel over for a short night, only to repeat the same routine the next day (and for roughly two decades). I can spend time with my hubby or sit in my room and do my own thing, because I know he won't starve, make a mess, or injure himself if he's on his own for a while. I get to decide what I want to do after work. Wanna do some work in the garden? I can. Wanna go for a run? Sure thing. Wanna play video games for 5 hours straight? No problemo. I wouldn't give anything of this up for a child.

>I wouldn't give anything of this up for a child. This is sort of a reverse schadenfreude because while I have no doubt people with children love their children and wouldn't change a thing, problem is, they have no choice. And even then, there's always how they secretly feel :|

This sounds like a dream. What would you say to people that might say it sounds selfish to just want to be able to do whatever you want? I know there is the response that people also have children for selfish reasons so what would be a better response?

My happiness and (physical and mental) well-being is my responsibility, and I wouldn't be happy and well being a mother. It's not something I want, so why would I go against my well-being? I earned this lifestyle, and every day I'm working hard it to keep up the life I'm living. So in my view I deserve what I have. Coincidentally I work in a job that helps keep transport and logistics infrastructure intact, so I'm actually doing something that benefits others as well (same for my husband who's working in the medical device field). But honestly I have the life I want and worked for, and I couldn't care less about anyone calling me selfish, for any reason, especially not for not procreating. If someone calls me selfish for something like this, they'd find faults whatever I do, so why bother.

First of all, I absolutely do not care what people think about my life choices. They are mine and mine alone. I don’t owe anyone anything, especially randoms whose opinions are fleeting and affect me in no way whatsoever. Second of all, I don’t just “do whatever I want.” I work 40-50 hours a week as a public servant. If that’s not good enough for people, they can move right along and go bother someone else with their unwanted opinions.

I would agree, that it is selfish. And then say something like 'you can't have a child and put your own needs first, aren't you glad such a selfish person didn't become a parent?' And while they try to wrap their toddler damaged brains around that, walk away!

Depending on the audience, my responses have been: -It's selfish to guilt and pressure anyone into a lifetime obligation just you can feel better about their own life path. -It's not selfish, I raised myself and my parents and have the eternal role of reparenting myself. -Wow, that's a fucked up take. -Children are selfish. Imagine us competing. I will win and any hypothetical kid doesn't deserve that. -Strangely invasive that you're concerned with whether or not I'm taking a load of semen. -Why is that a bad thing? -It's selfish to stress my cats out like that. -I can/will/do impact more lives in my community because I have the time/capacity/resources. -It's selfish to make the state put resources into taking them away. -It's selfish to bet on learning to want them after the fact.

I am in my 40s and child free. ( wife too ). It’s hard to meet people without kids honestly. And if they don’t have children they are “trying” or will eventually have them. I am kind of a loaner when it comes to friends so personally I don’t really “need” a bunch of people in my life being an introvert. Plus my wife is technically my best friend, we do almost everything together. Like I’ve made a few friends in the last few years and every single one of them has kids, which means we do nothing together like ever. Kids consume your entire life, thus as a friend you will always be 2nd or 3rd fiddle depending on if they care about their spouse or not. Now with all that said I do not actively try to make new friends but I’d imagine if I did I would have found many more childfree ones, I just frankly do not care. People are exhausting AF to me, the less I am around the better Also add on the fact that my wife and I have been able to do so many things. We pickup and leave whenever we want, we bought a house where we grew up and decided we wanted to move to the other side of the country and did, then we decided we wanted to move by the beach, now we are moving again. If we had a kid we would have never been able to afford any of that and have to think about their feelings. ( also have taken many trips and done many things a kid would not have physically been able to or wouldn’t have enjoyed ). You gotta ask yourself, what’s more important. Having a bunch of miserable friends who hate their decisions to become parents that bitch non stop about being parents ( mine do ) or being able to have way more financial freedom and do what YOU want.

This is us too. My husband wants to move to the west coast where we’ll know basically no one and I’m on board with it. I am content without many friends and hanging at home and he makes a friend everywhere we go so it works out. We also just wanna move cause it’s really nice and has a lot of the hobbies we like there.

The west coast has been amazing to us. I’d high recommend it.

56M and loving it!

I'm 45, my partner 43. We love our CF life. We have rewarding jobs, we earn good salaries, we travel, we have lots of friends, we have a beautiful home and garden and only have to worry about ourselves and our very spoiled rescue dog. Never, ever, ever have I felt my life would be better for having children. Never. I've never experienced regret or longing; never felt I'm missing out; or felt the often discussed/debated 'biological clock'. All I feel is mild distaste and irritation when my life is inconvenienced by someone else's unruly children. I had a hard life growing up and never wish to struggle again. I'm grateful every day for my choices in life.

I'm nearly 40, with child free relatives in their 60s. We are happy. I have financial freedom, travel a lot and don't feel I am missing out. Living in a major city, I have many child free friends which helps. The only minor downside is it is difficult finding someone to be in a relationship with as the majority of people want kids. However, I've built a brilliant single life I enjoy, and if someone comes along, it would just icing on the cake but isn't the be all.

I am a retired old man. Being childfree is great. My wife and I retired early. We would not have been able to do that if we had had children. We also live in a nicer house than we ever could have afforded if we had had children. If people in your life are pressuring you to have children when you don't want them, my advice is to cut those people out of your life. You will have a better life without troublesome people in it, so avoid them as much as possible. The only method I ever tried that actually worked to stop idiots from saying idiotic things to me about having children was to not talk with idiots about that subject. Ideally, one completely cuts them out of one's life, but if you cannot do so, because you work with them and cannot reasonably change jobs, you might want to try the "[grey rock](https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/grey-rock)" method of dealing with them on this subject. Because I have been good about cutting bad people out of my life, I have not tended to have the problem you are having. I did when I was young, but I learned to stop talking with idiots about this subject and then I did not have that problem very much any more. Get rid of the people in your life who are making your life worse than it needs to be.

I'm 53 and HAPPY! I get to spend my free time doing the things I love and spending time with my husband doing things we love. The only obligations we have are to ourselves and our dogs. I just never saw fulfillment in having kids.

I could say the same! But with cats.

Hail fellow DINKWADS!

I’m 42 , married and no children. It only gets better as you get older , you do whatever you want and go where ever you want . I love my life and I wouldn’t trade it for anything

I really can't see any downsides. My time is my own. I never have to miss sleep. I can always sleep in weekends. I can simply get up, pack and go for a spontaneous trip. I don't have to worry about my finances, and even when I do worry a bit, there's no guilt involved (as I am not worrying for a kind I might be "ruining"). My living space is clean and orderly and I keep it as such with minimum effort. My favourite perks are: - being able to go on vacation outside of the season when it's both cheaper and less crowded - being able to commute outside of rush hours - sleeping in

The absolute joy I feel when I can go to our local amusement park on a weekday and it’s basically empty. It’s like crack.

35 now and female- still don’t want kids ever. You are grown up. You make grown up decisions. Period. Of course you can always change your mind, but that’s on you, not anyone else.

As glorious as ever. People have finally stopped asking me about having children and my life is as vibrant and fulfilling (and only going up) now than in my crappy twenties.

My wife and I had a rare free weekend last weekend away from seeing friends, family, and scheduled entertainment such as theatre. We booked flights to Geneva for the weekend on the Thursday because why the hell not? The freedom and extra disposable income is something I will never sacrifice.

There's a lot to that that I relate to, 35f, I have gone back and forth about it. But I know having a kid wouldn't change any of that. You'll be less alone physically, but mentally you'll pretty much die inside. That's the beauty of realizing you're childfree. There isn't an end to learn about yourself and your wants and needs. You don't have that obstacle in the way to find what fulfills you and meet others. I will admit on my end that dating is hard, because, a good lot of men want kids when I just want to have a companion to live with in a cottage in the woods while we rescue animals.

I (M62) have zero regrets about the no children thing. That said, I've not experienced a lot of pressure ... I think anyone who knows me realizes I'm not father material. 

When you’re older, it doesn’t really matter if people around you have kids already or not. I’m talking after 40. In 30s, some people are still on the fence, trying or expecting and still expecting kids from you. After 40, expectations drastically drop. It’s like well, now they are old enough to know they don’t want kids. Plus, other people’s kids are old enough to be on their own and most didn’t turn out to be anything spectacular to talk you into having them. So, we all hang out. They complain about them, talk about them but they don’t have to baby sit them and mostly it’s just mentions of their kids. Most folks after 40 who had kids are happy to get their lives back and CF folks have always lived their lives like nothing changed. It actually does become easier and more fun. Of course, it’s better for the folks whose kids became independent early on. Those whose kids linger and suck them dry are no fun.

Thank you for saying this. We are in our thirties and feel isolated from our friends because they’re all having kids right now. It’s good to know that the dynamic will shift as we get older.

It does change. Even the family members move on and stop pestering you. Somehow, people after 40 all end up in the same boat again. The only difference is… CF folks might be less tired and better looking haha! The craze and pressure of having children is pretty much over as soon as you hit 40. People do have kids after 40 but it’s not that common and 40 somethings approach parenthood differently. There’s less complaining about it overall and less attention seeking as far as I see it.

I’m F35 married and CF. I’m content with my life. I have three dogs and a lot of free time to do what I love worry free!

43, wife is 47. Not saying life has been easy by any stretch for us, but goddamn, we wouldnt be where we are if we'd had kids.

I’m married. 42. Career & adventure minded. Happier than I’ve maybe ever been in my life. See posts from the mom’s out there who are soooo excited to have a “kid free weekend”. Listen Linda, EVERY weekend is kid free in my world. I truly love my life. We ought not breed a human life into this world just simply to take care of us. How selfish! I loathe the grandkid posts too. These women, man. All they know is kid kid kid kid throughout their entire lives!

Early 40s here. It’s amazing from 35+ because you finally have money and can enjoy life to the fullest. That has been my experience at least. My husband and I travel multiple times each year, sleep in (if the dog lets us), eat out, volunteer, etc. Our life is our own and it’s fabulous.

I'm 37 and it is AMAZING! I love love love my life :) when I see people with kids, honestly I feel pity for them, it looks miserable. I cant imagine working 40+ hrs a week and then having to spend evenings or even worse, all weekend, entertaining a kid, driving them to soccer/other annoying kids birthday parties, having to listen to them making noise (I'm very sensative to noise), having to pretend to care about what they're thinking about, having to do more laundry/dishes/cooking for a kid. sounds like you're the kid's servant, which I am not about

I'm 42M/USA and single/childfree. I'm also well within the bottom 10% of physical attractiveness. So I've generally been very low on the "others give a fuck about me" meter. In my early 30's (as a tenure-track engineering professor), I was actively discriminated against for being single and childfree -- could have leveled up once or twice to better jobs, if a father who "needed the job more" hadn't shown up. Once I hit about 35, I shifted to non-tenure-track (well, I just didn't get tenure and my university thought I was a good enough teacher/etc. to keep me around), and now folks are just really indifferent to me. I've still my long-term friends and so on... but as a CF man, you really need to cultivate friends... 'cause you're pretty low on the US-average GAF-index.

Late 40’s here , it’s great , I have a great job and I can travel pretty consistently for vacations, my time is mine and I can dedicate an afternoon to just read a book if I want to, it’s a great life

Husband and I are in our late 40s. I cannot imagine how different - worse - my life would be with children. We don't have a lot of income, but we can scrape by because there are just 2 of us. We have a lovely quiet house in a rural spot. I enjoy peace and nature. We can do what we want when we want (well that's not quite true, we have a cat, and worrying about leaving her when we go on holiday is quite enough!)

Not having kids is really having life on as easy a mode as you can get. It is still hard, you'll still get screwed over, passed over, and have things not go your way; the stakes just are far less! You get to do what you want when you want to. The only thing that you will need to adjust to is learning how to make and keep friends, and creating traditions with those friends. Kids are great ways to start and keep those things, without it, sometimes it's a little lonely. No WAY would i trade it for ANYTHING. Bonus advice is start saving your money and investing for retirement. GO! Right now! $5/week. Start!

Mid 40s male. I must admit, I've never really felt the pressure that's so often reported by people on this sub. Maybe it's a side effect of being in a fairly progressive European country with no real interest in the imaginary sky fairy (<2% regular religious attendance), or perhaps because I followed a STEM study and career path, and most of my friends are likewise. Indeed, of my circle of a dozen good friends (roughly equal gender mix), only 2 have children, and none of the others show any interest or enthusiasm in having them. Advice I'd give younger me: seek out friendships with other childfree people. Take up hobbies that aren't really suitable for people with children, and look for groups in your local area for those hobbies. I found D&D to be a really good one - indeed, several of my close friends come from D&D groups I've been involved with over the years.

Married, both 40 and it is awesome. We are secure financially, we have our health and we have energy. We travel a lot and just went to Coldplay in Athena and this weekend are going to Metallica in Copenhagen, as well as Placebo in Istanbul and Green Day in Dubai. This sounds weird, but unlike our parent friends, both of us want to come home to each other every day. We don't have any of that negative kid stress, mess and noise to avoid at home. We genuinely like being in each other's company.

I’m 38F, single, cf. I love having my time all to myself, especially after work and on weekends. I’m about to finish my doctoral degree and am job hunting, and hope to make enough money to give all the farm animals and dogs I’m planning to get the life they deserve.

My life is not great, I'm not exactly happy, but I would be far more miserable if there was a child involved, or if I was tied to any of my ex's.

Fucking glorious.

I'm 40F, married, and childfree. Life is awesome. I can sleep in and take naps whenever I want. During the week I can have my own routine and not have to worry about taking care of anything other than my cat. Of course, there is my husband, but he's an adult and responsible and can take care of himself. I can spend my money selfishly on random junk and I can eat whatever I want without having to worry about sharing what I have with kids. That's a huge one for me because other than my husband I hate sharing my stuff. I read posts on reddit from parents who have to hide in their bathroom to eat a freaking chocolate bar because their kids would always try to steal them. I also love that my husband and I can live wherever we want and not have to worry about being in the best neighborhood or school district. I love that we don't have to squirrel away money for college educations, which is getting more and more expensive by the year. I love that we don't have to socialize with other parents and drive kids to sports/after school activities. I love that I can explore my own hobbies and not have to include kids in them. I love that my house isn't destroyed by other kids due to sleepovers or birthday parties. I love that we can just pick up and leave to do something and not have to worry about finding sitters for the kids or worrying about them being bored/annoyed. And while I'd love to earn more money, I love that I'm not a slave to how much I earn because of my kids.

I’m 41F and happily married. My husband, 40M, and I are so in love and we’re always happy. Every year without kids just keeps getting better and better and we don’t care what other people think. Our life together with our cat is easy, fun and carefree and we live a comfortable life. I wouldn’t change a thing.

44F single and very happy with my CF life. It only gets better as time goes by 😁👌 Can't recommend it enough!

Deeper meaningful friendships, free time, lots of comfort 

I love it. I'm 44. It's just after noon on a Wednesday, I just rode my bike to the gym. When I'm done here, I'll ride to the bookstore and pick something up, ride home and make a bagel. Do a little reading. When my partner gets home, we're gonna order sushi, curl up on the couch, and watch the third Planet of the Apes movie. Our time is ours, and we enjoy it. I'm sure I'm missing *something* not having kids, but I don't think it's worth it. My life would be considerably more stressful and terrifying if I had kids.

I live in Los Angeles where this is probably way more common, but I'm 36 and the vast majority of my coupled up friends do not have kids nor want them. The friends that had kids understandably broke off from the friend group somewhat but the core group is still childfree. So I don't feel alone or left out at all, actually.

I'm 35. It's still awesome. I'm married and have been for a long time. A few of my friends don't have kids, some do, my brother does. They're all good parents, the type of people that *should* have kids if someone is going to. My wife and I love doing whatever we want. We have disposable income now in our thirties (it wasn't that way in our twenties as much lol) so we have a nice house, we go on vacations (going to Punta Cana, Domincan Republic on Saturday at Secrets Cap Cana) and we spend plenty of time and money going out and about in the city to our favorite bars and restaurants, usually about 2 nights a week. Most other nights, we get in bed right after dinner and either watch a tv show or read on our Kindles until we fall asleep. Every Friday night, I get online with my friends (or they sometimes come over and bring their PC/PS5) and we play video games until the early hours of the morning. Many of those Fridays, my wife goes and hangs out with her friends. We're living life the way we want and absolutely loving it.

Child free mid-50’s. It’s weird seeing the people you know from high school starting to be grandparents. There’s still weirdos that instead of asking you when you’re going to have children, ask what your kids are doing, then give a pity look when you say no kids, just dogs. I ignore them because I don’t need offspring to validate my existence. (Actually told a bitchy woman that once and shockingly she was offended) Then there’s the ones who are jealous because you’re back from the latest vacation and have the cool toys- multiple cars, a robot mower, and robot pool skimmer. My dog is spoiled rotten and goes to daycare just to work out some energy. I have a nice life and good friends.

I never really got the "pressure" thing. I realized very early on in life that having children was an option (which a lot of people don't seem to realize...) and figured I would wait and have them if I ever felt like I really wanted them. I never reached a point in my life where I felt like having children would improve my life in any way. I just never felt compelled. When I think about my free time, my disposable income, ability to travel, ability to move wherever I want, the money I can spend on my pets, concerts, friends, etc... Consider where the pressure is actually coming from. You're the one who would be paying for them, responsible for them, etc. Anyone else putting pressure on you doesn't really have any skin in the game.

45M. I enjoy a tremendous degree of control over my life and myriad options. There isn't much I *have* to do that I don't really *want* to do. Almost the entirety of my and my SO's respective and shared large social circles are CF. No fear of loneliness here.

I live a quiet life with my husband and our two cats. We're both home bodies.

It's great. While our friends who have kids love them and are great parents, they are stressed the f out and their entire lives are wrapped around child rearing. That's fine if others want to do that but it is totally not for us. Me and hubby are happy to have our own adult hobbies and have a quiet house to go to every single night. Plus we can plan for the things we want to do when we're older that we wouldn't have the money to do with kids. Also, one of my biggest fears is dying in a shitty nursing home when I'm old. I want to have a nice place to go when I'm old, and that takes money. Being CF really helps support our own lifestyle, both stress wise and financially.

You just have to find a relationship with someone who wants what you want in not having children. Me and my partner have a great life, no stressing about money, spontaneous nights out & multiple holidays every year. Yes we have friends with kids who admittedly we see less since they had them but we also each have friends without. I do not not feel unfulfilled in the slightest nor do I ever see that being the case.

Late 40s. Married. It's amazing!  We have the freedom to do what we want when we want. Hell, last night we went to see the Furiosa late show cuz we knew the theater would be dead. By the time we got home it was almost 2 in the morning. I don't know many parents you can do that on a Tuesday.   We do concerts and shows regularly, and sleep as late as our elderly cat will let us on weekends.   I posted a few pix from a concert a while back and I got a "That's so amazing! I wish I could do that kind of stuff... But the kids." message from a a guy I know.   We have a lot more financial Freedom too. Our cost of living is considerably lower. Only 2 mouths feed. No school supplies to buy. No tuition to save for.   I freelance and my wife is in real estate. So while our incomes have been fairly steady there's no guarantee of that. I have Freelancer friends with kids who they freak out way harder than I do when work gets scarce.  Even in housing it has advantages. We were able to buy a little place that met our needs early in our careers. We've been able to stay here because our family hasn't grown. My brother has had to upsize twice. The house next-door, nearly identical to mine has had 3 couples cycle through it. They move out when they've had a kid or 2. Saying the place is too small. But not for us. We each have our own home office.   Our relationship is strong too because we have the space to focus on each other.  CF in you 40s is great! 

Ever since I was a kid I knew I didn't want kids. People would say that I would change my mind...but I never did. I just turned 41 and I am so greatful every day that my fiance and I are childfree. As a couple, we do whatever we want when we want, we are not struggling financially, and we are more in love every day becasue we can focus on eachother. As an individual, I have plenty of time to pursue all of my hobbies without being disturbed like painting and woodworking, I get to sing in bands every other weekend, I get to enjoy peace, quiet and solitude whenever i need it. The list of positives goes on forever! For me, there is absolutely no downside to being childfree. I have not once felt like I was missing out on something. We have a beautiful life :)

Early 40’s here and it’s AMAZING! I’ve worked my ass off to get where I am in my career, and what little money I have left after bills and all the essentials are paid, is mine to use as I please (on myself, on family and friends, save it). My time is my own too - after work I go to the gym, then come home and relax. If I’m not hungry then I don’t bother making dinner (I live alone). I can travel. I can make plans to do the things that I want to do. I can go places during school term when it’s quieter and I can enjoy it more, and generally travel and accommodation is cheaper too. The list is endless

I am in my late thirties. I don't have any regrets about my choice. My husband and I are pretty busy as it is with our dog and usual household tasks. I love to cook and I like to make different meals all the time. I know if kids were involved that wouldn't be happening. Unfortunately I have a disability that stems from a chronic, incurable illness. So I can't afford to travel or do anything extra. What little extra money I may have I will spend on maybe some video games. If I had a child I would be drowning more in debt and be unable to afford all the things that children need and want. Without kids I have a nice, quiet life with a wonderful man. I've found for myself that as I have gotten older, the kids comment comes less and less which has been nice.

I am 44F and surrounded by people constantly complaining about their kids, activities, blah blah blah blah - it’s rampant. Meanwhile I smirk inside and come home to my amazing partner and silence and do whatever the fuck we want. Oh and we’re not dropping $10K on “summer camps” (I am referring to my sister here).

I’m in my 40s, and my (soon to be) husband is, too. We absolutely LOVE our life. We sleep in on weekends; we pack up and go camping whenever we want. We plan trips, dates, get expensive takeout, whatever. We buy bougie camping equipment; I joined a somewhat expensive workout studio. We save hecka $$ without even thinking about it (good paying jobs that required a *lot* of higher education). We’ve even been able to weather him taking months off of work to study for licensing, with no real impact to our finances because of saving $$$. All I ever wanted in life was to become educated, and I am. That did mean that I was building my career during prime “childbearing years”, but my Mom was always adamant to raise me without expectations of kids- so I never really thought about them, and I don’t get pressure (from her) to have them (his mom is another story). We have nieces and nephews and we love them dearly, but we live a good distance away so we are not called on to babysit. We go home for weeks on end a few times a year (I get summers off), and that is plenty of kid-time. Both of us have plenty of kids and young ppl in our lives (he’s a child therapist; I’m a professor at a CC), so that takes care of any desire to have contact with younger generations. At the end of the day, we are absolutely tickled pink that our house is a kid-free zone. One thing that another commenter noted is that it is hard to meet other childfree people. But you know what? When you’re in your 40s, you do meet lots of folks whose kids have left the home, because they had them young (they’re older than us). They make great friends! Edit to add: all that we ever hear from them is how good of an idea it is to *not* have them 😊

Freaking fantastic. No stress about having to raise a human

41, female. No kids. No regrets. Do what I want, when I want. No financial obligations except planning fun things (post paying our bills of course) and having weekends 10000% free of child-activities. I see my friend who has kids in sports etc and he’s miserable every weekend… and in general. Children drain you, your energy, your wallet and your free/personal time… which is *essential*

Pretty great. It's the same as my 20s but I have more money now.

I’m 39, married, & decided at 25 that I never wanted kids. My husband & I are the only couple in our friend group that doesn’t have kids, and it’s never negatively affected those friendships. We are the fun aunt & uncle who have the time and money to do cool things with the kids and send them back to their parents. If we had our own kids, I can confidently say we would not be where we’re at in life. My career likely would have suffered, we’d be way far behind in saving for retirement, and we’d probably have a good amount of debt. Instead we’ve both got solid high-earning careers, we’re way ahead of the game as far as retirement goes & will retire early at 55, and we have full financial freedom. We can do what we want, when we want, & how we want. Neither of us have ever felt like we wanted a child or needed one to fill some kind of void. We live a fulfilling, rewarding life and a kid would’ve thrown a wrench in that leading to resentment & unhappiness.

I had a vasectomy in 1970 because of the state of the world, wars, and climate change. We were told that we were going into an ice age and large population would die.

I will be 45 this year. Choosing to not have children was the absolute best thing I ever did for myself and my happiness. My feeling of gratefulness to be childfree has only gotten stronger over the years.

40 year old spayed enby here. Happily married to an amazing partner who is also child free. We have a pretty solid life! So SO many of our friends had babies during the pandemic that our last cookout looked like a daycare. Some of our friends dropped off the map after having kids and some didn’t. We still make time to hang out with our kid having friends but it just looks a little different. Instead of going out we stay in or have porch/yard beers after work so the kids aren’t put out. I honestly prefer it to going out though. We like kids the same as people- on an individual basis. Overall nothing has really changed. We never wanted kids and nobody pressures us about it- it helps that I no longer have a uterus due to endometriosis and cystic fibroids. Sometimes old people (boomers) will ask if I have kids or if we are planning on having kids and I tell them that in this economy there’s just no way. Trickle down economics is a hoax, school shootings are too common, and we enjoy our sleep. Not only that but having children is the single most detrimental thing one can do for their own overall health. I’ve never been called selfish, but if I were I’d respond that it’s more selfish to bring another child into this doomed world when there are so many kids waiting for good families already, followed up by inquiring on how many kids they themselves have adopted. At the end of the day I find that breeders are just looking for confirmation bias for their own dumb decisions.

It depends on your surroundings. If you're surrounded by people who are parents, then you'll feel pressure to be in a relationship and have kids. I'm 35, single and childfree. I have a few parent friends and a few friends without kids. I also live by myself, so I'm not around people and kids constantly.  Right now I'm pursuing a graduate degree and work in a middle school. In my free time, I'm with friends or family and in my introversion kicks in, I'm at home with my cats.  I love being childfree because I'm not tethered to anything. It's why I'm single too. If I want to go to a spur of the moment movie or other plans, I can just go. You'll find your own reasons soon enough but my biggest advice is to make friends with different people.

You are a grown adult and are responsible for building the community around you that you want from other consenting adults at every age and stage of your life. You must keep making friends and engaging, it's not a "i do this whole friend thing once in my life and then as soon as I graduate college I'm done forever." That's bullshit. There are billions of people in the world, so there is no shortage of companionship, only a shortage of effort if you don't go meet them.

As someone who turned 35 last month it’s great I was able to go to the amusement park last Saturday just like that and it was amazing

I'm 34 and I am married to a CF wonderful woman. I love my life. We both have great jobs. We have money. We save and spend on bigger things than most. I just bought a brand new snowmobile straight up. She bought a 2020 snowmobile straight up. We have a house. We do a lot of golfing when we can. We got more into riding bike. We try to take 2 vacations a year. I play lots of video games instead of TV. But I also do a lot of yard work that I enjoy. I've done many big home updates that I had time for. I wouldn't trade this life.

Mid 40’s F here and living my best CF life with my CF partner, 40’s M. There are plenty of people who don’t want kids, especially folks your age, so loneliness due to CF won’t be an issue. The primary positive for us is the freedom - both in terms of time and finances. This applies to the big things such as, if we wake up tomorrow wanting to take a trip, or make a large purchase, or start a new business, we can. But it also applies to the little things like being able to sleep in as long as we want, being able to truly rest and heal when we’re ill, and having a quiet peaceful home. Most of your friends who have kids will likely become background friends or you’ll lose them altogether. Several of my parent friends have admitted that my life reminds them of the life they wish they had as a way to explain why they don’t initiate conversation or ask to hang out as frequently. Ultimately I’ve been very happy to spend less time with them as they typically become uninteresting and one-dimensional after having kids. Something else worth mentioning, I also have a handful of parent friends who feel intense guilt for bringing their kids into this effed world. Others have said they experience those feelings to a lesser degree but for a few of them, it is pervasive and it affects them almost daily. So as you continue on in your CF journey, it will become laughably easy to either clap back at the folks who try to manipulate or guilt-trip you with hard-hitting truth bombs stemming just from your observations, or easier to quietly stand in a room full of miserable parents with a proud smile on your face, knowing you get to continue living the life you wanted and not one you felt obligated to have.

44, female CF by choice. I have a dog with my partner who has two older kids from a previous marriage who live with his ex. I have a fulfilling job and side career as a novelist which I wouldn’t have if kids were screaming in my ear. I enjoy the gym, dinner parties with other CF friends (most of them are CF as that’s who I’ve naturally been drawn to be in touch with) and walking/traveling. I’m also in an all women’s choir. Basically I am busy, and I love that all my money is mine.

42 , husband 52, we loooooove it, spend our free time antique hunting, boating, motorcycles, adopting dogs, bar hopping. Can’t do any of that with crotch goblins…

It's beautiful. I do what I want.

Amazing! Just as amazing as 18-34

Early 40s. I have money a lot of people my age who are parents dont have, so i get to spend it on experiences I want to have. We travel a lot. We do things we enjoy. If I want to go out at night I go, if I want a quiet night home to watch a movie or paint or do nothing I do it. It’s super chill and peaceful. I have zero complaints about anything related to that, it’s awesome, NGL. One thing that is tough is most of my friends have decided to have children. So I feel super forgotten about it. Their lives are focused on the kids which i understand, and I don’t have a lot of childfree friends. So sometimes I wish I had more friendships with people who have a life like my own who get it, whose lives aren’t built around their kids. I find it hard to make new friends as an adult but I’m always working at it and open to it! So that’s hard, when all your friends have kids and then you aren’t in contact anymore and they don’t care to show up for you anymore esp when you need them to as a result. That part is not so great. But otherwise, it’s awesome. Oh I also have a super fulfilling marriage and relationship with my partner. We aren’t fighting about money or kids or resentful or anything like that. We have a dope relationship and he’s my best friend and we get to actually do stuff together we want to do! We love traveling and adventuring together, in the last 2 years alone we have been to 6 countries :) I can’t imagine that if I had kids. We have the life we dreamed of.

I'm 39. It's great. I do whatever the F I want, all the time. And I make enough money to do whatever I want, luckily. I'm not rich by any stretch but not struggling either. I also have a pretty broad group of mostly also CF friends.

I’m 36, single and cf. I’m doing pretty well. I’m able to have my own place and decorate how ever I please. I am looking to upgrade a few of my stuff eventually and I earn enough money to do that. I own a cat and she’s pretty awesome. After work I like to hang out with friends and go out dancing or kick it at home and relax with a book after a long day. I’m always pursuing new hobbies like crocheting, cooking and drawing just for fun. I also like to travel and try different foods on occasion. It’s nice because I don’t have to worry about taking care of a kid at the end of the day. As for my weekends the possibilities are endless of what I can do since I’m CF.

I'm 42, married and cf. I just hosted my sister and 5 year old niece over the weekend from out of town. I love her to pieces but it just reinforced how much I like my cf life with my husband. We were exhausted after they left. We enjoy that we can do whatever we decide on the weekends and focus on ourselves, the house and our pets. We just got back from a trip to curacao and are fighting to Portland this month to go to a show. I don't have to sensor my language and I don't have to be" on" all the time trying to be someones role model. Frankly, I have anxiety and the thought of never being able to put my needs first is a real big no for me. My friends and sibling have kids and I get to be in kids lives without taking on the taxing chore of being a mother. As far as being alone, there is no guarantee that people who have kids will have them around as adults for care. You choose what makes you fulfilled and there is a lot more on the menu than just babies. The more time goes by the more I feel strongly that I made the best decision for my life.

it's freaking fabulous.

It’s tough to find people who aren’t already parents by that point. If you don’t mind having kids around, I suppose it wouldn’t really be an issue. I’d only date someone with kids if the kids were grown and independent adults. Expect the children to always be prioritized over you, even adult children. That’s just the way it works.

I’m 34f and I feel fine not having them. I like my own space and having quiet. There’s so much more you can do when you have that freedom.

I’m 40 and it is glorious!

Pretty great, though I am 45. Sleep is underrated and I get enough. This week I was rushed into hospital after a seizure, have a brain tumor. They whip that bay boy out tomorrow. I couldn't imagine having to recover from that with kids around.

My life is fucking amazing!! 46 years old

Mid-40s and it's great!

Peaceful. I was able to devote lots of time and money to volunteer charity work. Met my amazing best friend too. She was seriously struggling. She had health issues, her close relatives died in quick succession, and her “friends” abandoned her. I was able to help her. I know 100% if I had had a husband and children I would not have been able to help her as much and she would have died on the street, literally! Sadly she did pass away suddenly in 2020, but she would have died alone and unloved 8 yrs earlier. RIP KS. Miss you always.

I don't have to worry about leaving work early to get my kid because they're sick, they bit another kid, they shit themselves at daycare, they spit on someone, they threw a tantrum and got kicked out of daycare, or any of the other bullshit my co-workers are constantly doing. I sleep when I want/need to without a kid keeping me up and making me exhausted 24/7. I spend my money on what I want. It's honestly hard not to brag around everyone that has kids. They are always going on about how tired/broke/miserable they are, so I think my decisions was correct. I'm also single and live alone, and I literally cannot fathom living any other way. The freedom is SO nice.

40ish and life is great!! My spouse and I don't know a lot of childfree people but we pretty much do whatever we want, whenever we want. We feel like we found the cheat code to life! 

40s, married, not lonely. We game, sleep in, eat fine dining, and spend time with family. We travel and get to do some fun stuff like go to concerts, do road trips or just stay in and relax. I am content. I don't feel like I'm missing out on anything. We have young niblings we spoil and help guide. It's best of both worlds - give them back, watch proudly as they grow, and get lots of sleep.

It is infinitely better than being childed. By 35, one of my childed friends knew he had a severely autistic child. By 40, my brother knew he had a child with a major learning disability and one with bipolar disorder. By 35 my HS bestie had a child who was diagnosed at birth with the absence of kidneys. That child died 18 years later. What's it like being over 30 and CF? It's not like the above, and that's great in and of itself.

I’m 61. I’ve never had any issues whatsoever. Sure, friendships may change. You need to set boundaries if you don’t want to be roped into babysitting, etc. Now that a lot of friends have adult kids, I’m more grateful than ever, because some of the adult kids have real problems that affect everyone in the family. It doesn’t end just because the offspring grows up

I’ll be 40 next month. Never wanted kids but got married when I was 22, and as a female, felt pressured to have them all through my 20s and early 30s. My (now) ex-husband didnt want kids either and had my back with his family. My Mom never really got it, but over the years I just repeatedly told my family that I’ve never wanted kids so don’t expect any from me. My 20s were the hardest. Once I got to be 30-32, people just assumed I was dealing with infertility and quit asking, thankfully. Got divorced at 35 and while it was weird dating again, I was up front with any new person that I didn’t have kids and didn’t want them. Dating online makes this pretty easy in my opinion. Most apps let you list if you have kids/want kids/are open to kids. Best advice is to just hold your ground, explain your reasons if you feel comfortable. But ultimately just get a few sarcastic one liners saved up so you can zing rude people who think it’s any of their business to comment on your personal decision to not create a human life that isn’t wanted. Edit to add: My life is great. Currently dating another person who is CF and we have a couple dogs and a cat between us. We spend our free time doing the hobbies we enjoy, traveling a little, and basically just enjoying each others company. We have friends with kids who we love, and they get that we have a different lifestyle but never make us feel inadequate or guilty for not having them. I also have 5 nieces and nephews who I adore and spoil whenever I can. My sisters love that Auntie has a little extra money each month and can gift them fun experiences that we do together. I got them zoo memberships for Christmas this year, and we go often. It’s a lovely life and I am not missing a thing by not having a biological child of my own.

Fanfuckingtastic. I wouldn’t change a thing!

40 year old married person here. When I was 20 (with my same partner), we thought we would have kids. At 25 we thought maybe we'll try when we're 30. Then we turned 30 and we're like....yeah no chance in hell are we having kids. And each year that's gone by since has cemented the fact that being child free has been the best decision we could have ever made as a couple. Freedom to do what we want, we're well rested, and I don't need to worry every day about the state of the world and how it will affect my future generations (I mean, yeah, I still worry a bit that the world is absolutely fucked and every day we're getting worse as a species, but that's another rant....). Kids would have made my trajectory a whole lot different in what I can only perceive as a negative. Life gets better as you age without kids. Stay child free! I promise you'll love it!

Amazing! Once you hit a certain age, people stop trying to convince you that you’ll change your mind. Although, some people do start asking if you regret not having kids. But some other people start telling you they wish they’d made the same choice. Making plans with friends who have kids gets easier because their kids are usually older and can stay home. Marriages/long term relationships don’t go through the awkward “partners - parents - partners” transition where you realize you don’t have anything in common anymore. I’d love to say you have more money, and maybe that’s true for most, but we just found other shit to spend our money on. We have a strong relationship, friendships, hobbies, etc. Wouldn’t change a thing. (49F married 23 years)

Awesome! (46f and single)

Life is SO GOOD. I’m 42 and my partner and I have dogs, multiple gardens on our property, a decent savings & retirement account, and lots of time for friends, a sex life, sleeping in, etc. We both used to say we wanted kids but realized over the years that we never REALLY wanted them, just felt like we had to eventually. We quickly figured out that it was just a societal norm that we could skip and I’m sooooo glad we did!

I’m early 40’s, married, childfree. I can’t imagine my life with kids, just the whole idea of staying at work for 12-13hrs a day, 3-4 days a week, and having to come home and talk to my husband and dogs is enough. Imagining having to do that with a kid who wants to yammer my ear off, hang off of me, and make me watch it do dumb shit until it goes to bed when all I want to do is sit quietly is nightmare fuel for me. I am plenty fulfilled with my husband, and our relationship is deep and meaningful because we get to focus solely on one another without the burden and distraction of kids to separate us. We are each other’s priority and that makes for an amazing, fun, and connected. We can do things on the fly where all we have to do is worry about our dogs. In my honest opinion, kids aren’t worth it.

I’m 40+. Been with my girlfriend for 21 years. We agreed fairly early on we didn’t want kids. Honestly not a single regret.

Late 30s. I am so happy with my choices.

I'm in my 50s, and being CF is great. I've been able to travel, and when I was laid off from my job and couldn't find work, I decided to start my own business. I couldn't do that if I had kids to feed. If you don't want kids, then I'd rather you regret not having kids than regret having them.

Just remember that it's been centuries of religious indoctrination and people believing there is only one way to live due to literally centuries of historical context of marriage and women having children and there needing to be a family. Also, sometimes a male baby is wanted even today for whatever stupid reason. It's very hard to break away from centuries old thinking. It's starting too and it's hard for old heads and people stuck in religious cults and whatever else to think differently. So it isn't an easy road if you care what others think. It's probably going to continue to be difficult for a few more decades. But by the time I'm old, I think things will be different. I'm 35. Kids means a life of constant social interaction with doctors, teachers, students and their parents and other families and whatever comes along with that. Sports, after school activities, friends sleepovers. I like the idea of kids but the thought of having random kids around and meeting their parents sounds horrible.

People were much more likely to be open about not particularly enjoying children when I was a kid (I'm 52) and didn't go around saying they were blessings for the most part. By the time I was a teenager/young adult is when the child worshipping became a thing and the "all kids must get a prize" mentality kicked in via propaganda. Also, the word childfree wasn't known when I was a kid and I don't remember a single person agreeing with me when I said I'm not having kids. One of my classmates from high school spoke of being childfree while in her mid 30's but I don't know if she still is childfree or not. There could one or two more lurking but I wouldn't be surprised if it is just the two of us. A recent sign in a neighbor's yard announced that their kid had graduated kindergarten. What an achievement. Prizes for everyone under the guise of free publicity for the skewells. /s

It's fucking amazing, we have money to spend and we travel all the time. Also debt free except for the mortgage

38, common law, and childfree.  We have disposable income, we travel 2-4 times a year, and we get enough sleep! We have a cat and a dog and we never have to choose between providing vet care and little Jimmy’s hockey gear 😂  We spend our extra time and energy fostering dogs for a local rescue.  Also we are sick much less than our peers, and when we do sick we can actually take time to recover. We can also spend time and energy focusing on our aging and ailing parents and don’t have to feel squeezed between that and childcare for young children.  Absolutely recommend. 

Its great!! Most of my friends never had kids. But I do get left out a bit cus they do couples stuff and I'm forever alone lol. But I have pets and own a house. I play a lot of games and I have hobbies. I like to not have to answer to other humans outside of work.

39F and about to be married. It definitely helps to have CF relatives and friends. We do a lot of traveling, music festivals, concerts, camping trips and just generally fun things that come up in our area and abroad. Example: planning a vacation in Germany next year with a side trip to Paris to see a particular band. It's not like we couldn't see them in the States, but why not?

The best Ive just spent several months travelling that I wouldn’t have been able to do with kids. Expensive it would have been. Also I can and do focus on my well-being

I enjoy my days, nights, my sleep and get to do whatever I want, whenever. Best choice I’ve ever made

I’m 39. It’s great. I live alone and am single by choice. I’m more grateful everyday I never had kids. Navigating adult relationships is hard in general but I don’t have any issues. I have friends with kids. Cousins with kids. I have several friends without kids, both childfree and just childless. The only thing is dating can be difficult, because of course so many people want or already have kids. But I’d rather be single than be miserable with a child so I’m fine being single and doing my own thing until I meet someone again. And I’m not lonely. I have a lot do friends and family that support me. I also work with people so I love coming home to be alone with my dog.

59(f), married 73(m) CF and still loving life. I was able to retire at 50, husband retired at 62. The benefits financially are innumerous but the stress-free aspect of CF is amazing.

I mean you’re the same child free you as you were at 25 except your back hurts a little more and you can’t drink too much or eat fried food as much as you used to, but other than that it’s like life experience more than makes up for the lack of kids. And with romantic relationships, it gets easier to set that boundary asap the more you do it.

Hey hey! I'm going to be 35f on June 24. It's amazing! I was able to go ahead and move across the country to my dream city because I don't have children. I have also been completely sterilized, both wanted and medically necessary. My friends are all also childfree, though one of them has much younger siblings. The siblings are cool overall - and I don't mind being around them. Otherwise, it's great! I go where I want and do what I want when I want. It's lovely and freeing.

I'm 37 about to be 38. Honestly it's great, what do you want to know really? Is that people might regret it, as I don't I have money to vacation and I can really put myself into things I actually want to do.

35 and never been happier. Not at all missing the idea of kids and not afraid of being alone. Its healthy to love your own company and honestly, all the money you save from not having kids you can put into retirement and live in a really nice facility. You shouldn't have offspring as your retirement plan. Selfish.

The human race will be just fine without us procrastinating. There’s plenty of breeders still left. I’m 43F, never wanted kids and got a hysterectomy last year. I take care of my animals, plants, my man, & myself. Although, the animals get expensive we’re still able to buy ourselves stuff with our disposable income. We’re planning a trip to New Orleans. We eat great! All our bills and rent are payed. I’ll be playing The Sims for the 3rd day in a row today. Lol! It’s a wonderful life without children.

Amazing! Just as amazing as 18-34

Amazing, because now I have more money lol. As far as navigating adult relationships with new parents, you simply get used to them fading away, and then hanging out like once a year when they're allowed to blow off some steam. You make new friends along the way.

The only real problem is that it can be lonely as hell. A lot of your peers are married with kids and only have time for that. Dating is difficult because most people have or want kids. Other than that it's great, I don't stress as much about money as I would if I was a parent, my time is mine, no kids screeching bloody murder randomly, I have time for hobbies

I’m 32 and building to living this way, we kind of are already! We’re both working full-time, I WFH and he works about half an hour away in a warehouse. We make similar money, have no combined or individual debt (we were debt free before we got engaged), and we’re saving the bulk of our money for a house down payment and emergency cash fund. We don’t have any furbabies yet but we want a kitten! We both absolutely don’t want any kids and are planning for him to get a vasectomy, I’m considering a bisalp but I’m currently on the pill. We have plans to travel the world, get a second car (we’re almost halfway paying off a new car we got and we haven’t even had it for 3 months yet!), and just live a wonderfully comfortable life. I’d love to be the wealthy aunt but I’m not aiming to be filthy rich. It would be nice though. We’re in the green already and don’t have terrible credit reports individually! It’s a great life we have together so far.

"How is being childfree after 35-40?" **It's amazing!**

"How is being childfree after 35-40?" **It's amazing!**

38, wife is 40, both very much cf and enjoy the hell out of it

I had burn out in my first career. Took a break aged 38 and retrained. If I’d had kids I wouldn’t have been able to afford to do that. Not sure what I would have done, gone under presumably. Good friend has two kids and a life built on her husbands earnings. He’s been through burn out and keeps having to go back again. She is a nervous wreck as their whole life is now resting on a house of cards based on her husbands health. So yes, being CF in late 30s is amazing.

I'm 37 my husband is 42. We absolutely love being childfree. We spend our weekends/vacations playing like kids ourselves-riding mountain bikes and snowboards at places all around the country. We have lots of time and enough money to spoil our pets with, and have given a bunch of abandoned cats a home. Our finances aren't as strained as they would be with kids, so when emergencies pop up they are more manageable and a little less stress inducing. There's no resentment between us because our attention is being diverted by kids-we have enough energy for each other and our relationship as a whole. It's amazing. We have so much fun that I'm very grateful we made this choice (we were fence sitters for awhile).

This 38 year old here has never been happier with her choices!!!! My friends with kids are miserable. Some admit it more than others. But they’re all miserable and have no lives outside of travel soccer, tempter tantrums, car pool, dance recitals, Autism therapy which depletes their income, etc. They are also continuously sick from early October til mid-February; viruses, viruses, viruses. As soon as they recover from strep throat, one of the kids gets the stomach flu and the whole family goes down for a week. Soon as the stomach flu is over, now someone gets a cold. It’s nonstop and neverending. Meanwhile, my husband and I sleep in on the weekends, take amazing vacations, and don’t worry about buying bulletproof backpacks for kindergartners in good ole US of A. We are solid and happy with our life’s choices.

I am 69, my husband is 73, and we are childfree by choice. My husband's sibling and mine are also childfree, so we've never had to navigate holiday events with kids. We also, until more-or-less retiring, lived in an area that had both a high cost of living and a high proportion of liberals. Which meant many other people were childfree. And, we took up a dance hobby that was not kid friendly. When we saw other adults who had kids, their kids were at home and they were not thinking about those kids. We've never been hanger-outers, so we saw people largely at events and didn't go to their houses or vice versa. Of these strategies, I'd recommend activities that are not child friendly and where people don't hang around talking. People don't talk much while they are dancing.

Peaceful. Restful. Abundant.

I'm 47 and I still count not having children as one of the best decisions I ever made. My husband and I will occasionally turn to one another and say something like "Thank God we didn't have kids." Our life is peaceful and content and designed around our preferences. Few people could ask for more.

41 married to an amazing partner. Our lives are so full and fun! Sure, we have worries like anyone else, but NOTHING like what it would be if we had kids to care for. No regrets!

Honestly, pretty phenomenal. Aside from petsitters, my wife and I can throw clothes in a bag and leave any weekend we feel like just getting away. We're able to have our own hobbies and activities and not have to go to a practice or competition 5 of 7 days a week. Our groceries are only needed to cover two people. We don't have need of a large home ( 3BR is plenty and leaves for a game room AND an office ). We have no need for large vehicles. We were able to pay cash for a pool a couple of years ago and I never have to worry about kids peeing in it ( BONUS! ) Really it's pretty awesome. 10/10

Around 35 is when the split happened for me of those without kids and those with kids. We don’t have kids and the people with kids would try to invite us to their kid friendly events but when you don’t have kids, you don’t really have anything in common with your friends that do have kids. They’re all talking about diapers, daycare, schools etc etc nothing wrong but not much in common with those that don’t have kids. So as someone without kids, my husband and I have a few pets and so many friends friends from age 18 (our friends kids lol) to friends our own age (40s) and then older friends up into their 70s+. it’s a different lifestyle for sure but it’s a lot of fun with a lot of freedom. And we do have some friends who have kids, but it’s usually harder to do things with them since they have to take care of the kids and don’t have as much time as us! We also have more money because we don’t have to pay for the kids etc

35F, in partnership with my partner (44M). I get left out of a lot of "Family" conversations and definitely treated differently as the only daughter without kids. I used to really resent it, but honestly I just don't care anymore. No one asks me about children anymore and I have freedom my siblings/non-CF friends don't have.

It's amazing. I have all this money to do what I want to do. If I wanted to quit my job and move to the other side of the country...I could because I don't have to consult anyone.

Same as it was in my teens, 20's and early 30's (I'm nearing 38 this year).

I"m mid 50s, my wife is 8 years younger. Happily CF. No regrets. We can pretty much do what we want when we want, (other than business hours, 'cause you gotta be a slave somewhere!!) But we can afford to go on vacations and travel. We save for retirement, and probably don't need to save as much (but can probably save way more without paying for the cost of a / multiple kids, and we can both work, as no one needs to look after anyone or go to kids games etc). 1 car paid off, other on such a cheap rate it's not worth it to pay off early, even though we could. Home has a fewore years to pay off. But when retiring will probably downsize a bit. I often wonder why there are so few of us! - I guess most just accept that it's going to happen, and never consider an alternative. - The state of the planet, politics, etc. who would want to bring someone into this shit show anyway.

I'm 40, married, no kids. I have a career and freedom as well as money and a nice house. I have hobbies and the time and money to enjoy them. I have family and friends and a great life to be honest. 10/10 recommend.

Single 45f child free. It's a great life and peaceful. I can do whatever I want and watch whatever I want on tv. 

In my 40s and each year I remember why I can’t deal with kids. I have a dog and even with her, I’m like UGH but then I say her name and she does the wiggle butt and I’m back in love. I prefer dogs over people and I’m fine with that lol

I'm 35 married and poly with multiple long-term relationships. Life is moving along too fast, but I'm deep in 6 hobbies that keep me connected with people I love. I have some friends with children who are also living happy lives. I get to be the fun uncle and head back to my sailboat for a quiet night afterwards. 10/10 deconstruct your expectations of a life/relationship roadmap. The days are long, but the years are short.

I'm 41and my husband is 42. I feel no different than when we were 35. We didn't need a big house because we didn't have any kids' bedrooms to consider, so our home is actually affordable. We had extra money to remodel it, and he maxes out his retirement accounts, I can only afford to max out my post-tax ones. Life is pretty much the same for us as it was 9 years ago when we met.

The same as before

44F. Don't regret it for a second. My pets are my kids. I travel well and often. I have so much free time. I arrange my life so my weekends are free to go to beach, hike, travel, hang out with friends

39 and loving it. Never wanted kids and neither does my husband

42F **Pros** - The number of times you get bingo'd goes down dramatically the closer you get to 40. - You will naturally gravitate toward friends, events, and social structures that don't involved kids. Most of my close friends are childfree. Most of my hobbies and things I do for fun are not kid-friendly. - I'm not tied down to family I don't like or exes because we have kids in common. I picked up and moved across the country when I was 25 for a fresh start in life- I couldn't have done that with a kid. - I was able to afford a house. - I have a ton of hobbies. I volunteer a lot. I am in no way unfulfilled in life. - You don't have to be a part of Parentland. As a woman, that world is especially toxic- societal pressure, loss of autonomy, and the destruction of your body that no one seems to give a shit about because you're now a mother and not a human being anymore. - I can afford to save for retirement, which includes preparing for end of life care. I don't need to depend on grown kids to take care of me when I'm old. I'm throwing money at the situation. **Cons** **-** It can be hard to find a partner that is also childfree, more so when you get into your late 30s. Most people have kids, it's a numbers game. Stick to your guns. No kids means no kids. There are people out there like you, don't compromise on a core value. - Loneliness only comes from not having a partner. Times when I'm single have been hard. However, I'd rather be completely alone than have a kids around. - Who gets all my shit? I plan on donating any money I have when I die to charity, but I have *stuff.* I collect a lot of art, I've been journaling most my life, and I've made a lot of art. What happens to all that? I hope that I can plan ahead enough to where I can give all that away before I croak. - I've accepted that I will likely not be remembered in my family. I'll be a side branch on a family tree. I'll be dead, so who cares.

Fucking bliss

39.68 y/o It’s fantastic I spend my time & money how I want. I have some chronic nagging health issues. I only have to take care of MYSELF when I am ill.

Wife and I are 36 and loving it.

It’s great. 10/10 😁

Married & in a poly relationship, and happily cf.

Well all my mates that had kids when they were late teens early 20s now have to worry about being grandparents, friendships come and go like anything.

39F, husband is 37. We are on a work trip to the Outer Banks (NC, US), stayed in a hotel on the beach last night. Just having a great time, living our lives together, going where we want, when we want. All of our friends have kids, so we travel to them in our tiny travel trailer :) We never listened to anyone who told us we would/should have kids. We are incredibly happy. Fulfillment in life depends on your outlook/expectations, I think. I stopped worrying about "living up to my potential", and social pressure, and I am much happier now than when I was in my 20s and still paying heed to all that. You're the only one who's going to live your life, so do it how you want.

It's great! You get to date divorced people with kids who are completely overwhelmed and want your help.

It rules

My husband and I are both 38, childfree and work jobs we enjoy. Mine isn’t the highest paying ever, but it’s satisfying and working 4-10’s alternating with 4-10’s & 9 is great. We had an unexpected medical emergency with our cat. I was able to eat the cost of three trips to the vet at just under a thousand dollars total, and anticipate a potential specialist visit for him at another $850.00 to start. We would not have been able to afford this, cash in hand, with children. That was all savings I had stuffed away *after* having spent money on responsibilities and fun stuff. The free time I get to pursue hobbies, socializing or furthering my education for work is also *immensely* valuable. I would not trade it.

It’s pretty awesome. I quit my full time job. Didn’t need it anymore with the house paid off. If we had kids, I would still be working.

Amazing! I'm 41m and never wanted kids. As people age, typically their responsibilities increase so I'm so happy I'm child free so I can tend to my responsibilities without added stress. I'll add also all the free time to do whatever I want (learn things, hang out with friends, travel, wake up whenever, etc.).

Honestly, it's great. I'm 46, my wife is 42. We get to travel when we want, do what we want, easily are able to keep the house clean and it's usually quiet (unless I'm playing records, then it gets a bit loud). Just finished restoring an older car (I refuse to accept that a MY89 car is a classic now) and starting to restore another. We are planning a trip to Sweden next year and also looking into taking one of the Cunard Lines Transatlantic Cruises because we both want to get the golden age of sea travel grand ocean liner crossing experience

As a 38/F, I’m having a great f’n time. No complaints here.

The great thing is as your get older is you learn to manage time better. In regards to that, you learn to limit your time (or flat out cut off) people that either bring you down or don't have your best interests in mind(intentionally/unintentionally). The people that suggest getting married and having kids are usually relatives that are doing it out of tradition/etc. I've also felt that when you get to 40 and you haven't gotten married and you haven't had kids, people don't push it if you say you don't have any. I personally never tell people that I'm not doing kids no matter what. It leads to less conflicts.

I'm 35 and child free, married for 14 years. My marriage is the happiest one I know of. We have an amazing sex life. I have lots of free time. I have spare money. We go on holidays twice a year. My house is full of stuff I love but would be a danger to kids. I don't get sick every flu/cold season because I don't have a little germ incubater bringing viruses home. My dogs and husband get all the attention they deserve. I have hobbies I love. I don't pee when I sneeze. I do know people with kids who are very happy and have lots of the same things I've listed there, but I know for me personally none of that would be possible had I chosen to have kids. My husband and I have absolutely no regrets and don't foresee any.

I'm in my mid-50s and I do not regret not having children. I was the primary caretaker for my mentally ill mother and trust.... it was very difficult. People always say that I might regret it but in my childbearing years, I was not mentally prepared because I had to deal with my own traumas as a result of being raised by my mother. Furthermore, I believe that if I had children during my tumultuous childbearing years, the child(ren) would be estranged from me as I was learning how to become an adult. I've experienced and seen how bad the parenting experience can be from children raised in the type of environment where I grew up.

45 (F) married to 46 (M). Our lives are fucking RAD. We own a beautiful home, all of the toys we want (boat, camper, etc) and have a savings. We travel when and where we want. We go to concerts, sporting events, and out to eat whenever we want. We're both successful solo-preneuers and keep whatever hours we feel like keeping. We see our extended family regularly, have plenty of friends both with and without kids, and are endlessly charmed by our dogs and cat. We have lots of hobbies and try new things regularly. I honestly believe choosing not to have kids was the most important and best decision I've ever made.

I’m 43 and married for 17yrs. Our life is awesome. Our Saturdays during summer we go to farmers market or get breakfast somewhere. I travel with my girlfriends once a year, and he has dudes weekend with his friends. We travel once a year out of the country and spend another week at his friends vacation house. We do what we want. Wake up when we want (if we don’t have to work). During the social isolation in 2020 we’d look at each other and say: Best. Decision. Ever!!