Infertility

A great win by Webber, but it sure as hell wasn’t sport

by Dan Walsh

110
Fighting Assad one strongly worded statement at a time

by Tory Maguire

210
The woman with her head down trying to save Labor

by Malcolm Farr

310
Eurovision, the only game worth watching this weekend

by Anthony Sharwood

410
Some sensible thoughts to stop us losing to boozing

by The Punch Team

510
Five sparky ideas from a revolutionary talkfest

by Michelle Loh

610
Are you and your vitamins meant to be friends forever?

by Susie Burrell

710
Punch on: Open thread 28/05/2012

by The Punch Team

810
Abbott’s crass logic: trash the Parliament in order save it

by David Penberthy

910
Our special forces don’t always need special treatment

by Paul Toohey

1010

What not to say to your childless friends

01 Jun 05:40am

Filed under: Family, Infertility, Society

According to the Australia Bureau of Statistics – and despite Kevin Rudd’s almost hysterical wooing of working families - about a quarter of women in their reproductive years are likely to never have children. Some of them will choose not to have children, but many will have that choice made for them by circumstance.

Note: These are not a substitute for children.

I asked eighteen men and women who are involuntarily childless about the impact that this has had on their careers, lifestyles and relationships with family and friends.

Now chances are that – whether you’re aware of it or not – you know a number of people who are childless not by choice. And unless they are a very, very close friend, these are a few of the things not to say to them …

Continue reading "What not to say to your childless friends" »

Latest 2 of 194 comments

View all comments

mimi says:

07:15am | 26/08/10

no they are not: They don’t grow up to become great people. Well the become grown up dogs but you’ll still have to feed them, take them out running, stop them from tearing the place apart and organize their going to the toilet. Read more »
Your name: Elena says:

06:43am | 19/08/10

JoMc you’re not getting it. How could I NOT into the akward discussion? Most of the time it’s the other people who are asking. What do you imagine the conversation will be like? “Hey, are you and your partner planning on kids?” - and that’s the nice way to put… Read more »

Add your comment

Facebook Recommendations

Read all about it

Punch live

Up to the minute Twitter chatter

antsharwood 28 May 12 08:31PM

How much fun is it retweeting people who can't spell?

antsharwood 28 May 12 08:29PM

In other Olympian news, Steph rice is advertising Sunrice Chinese style Mongolian chicken. Think about that for a tick

antsharwood 28 May 12 08:19PM

Oops, just trying to say thanks all four your follows and Hackett yarn feedback, especially the dude who called me an opinionated dipshit

penbo 28 May 12 06:12PM

@GreenJ lady boy.

See all tweets

Nosebleed Section

choice ringside rantings

From: They must pay for one’s bitter disappointments

Michael S says:

"A teacher at Geelong Grammar had criticised her for using words that were too long, which had left her confused and had made her doubt her ability to write essays. She became ''quite distressed'' when her English marks began to fall." I can sympathise. My scholastic mentors conveyed to me a causal relationship… [read more]

From: Welfare for breeders is a bonus for everyone

Change Up! says:

I have no problem paying my taxes. As a single, childless person on a very decent income, I can afford it and not have my life severely altered. Plus I understand that my taxes paying for things like schools, childcare and infrastructure is ultimately a good thing. A better community is better for me… [read more]