Without Children: The Long History of Not Being a Mother

Without Children The Long History of Not Being a Mother by Peggy ODonnell Heffington

256 Pages

Publisher: Basic Books, Seal Press

Release Date: April 18, 2023

Nonfiction, History, Health, Mind, Body, Women, Women’s Studies, Gender Studies

The author makes the point that there is no term for women without children. You are either a mother or not a mother. She discusses how in the past, communities and/or relatives would take in children and raise them as their own. This happened with my family. A cousin lived with different family members while her mother wandered.

The author provides historical references of prominent women who raised others’ children. She discusses why women are deciding to wait to have children or not have them at all. The book is very insightful. She writes in a conversational style which is easy to read. I highly recommend this book to everyone interested in women’s studies or the country’s birthrate.