A review by 3njennn
Selfish, Shallow, and Self-Absorbed: Sixteen Writers on The Decision Not To Have Kids by Meghan Daum

4.0

This book was much better than I expected. I thought there was no need for me to read this since I've chosen not to have children and am comfortable with that choice. I didn't think I needed to know why others made the same choice. However, I found that this book is about much more than the decision not to have children. Many of the writers had reasoning I never thought about and there is a lot of social commentary in the book that's worth considering.

I was surprised by how many of the writers were childless by way of abortion or who had at one point really wanted kids. I've never been in the latter camp and I've always been extremely careful not to become pregnant, so I don't really think about abortion. It is interesting to consider how many different paths there are to the same end state.

I am happy to be living in a time where society discusses this issue and when we are moving in the direction of it not being a foregone conclusion that everyone should want to have children. Based on the conversations I still have regularly about my choice, I know there is still a long way to go.