Unapologetically Childfree
With Maggie Dickens
The corner of the internet where you find the Childfree Community you never knew existed but can no longer live without.
The corner of the internet where you find the Childfree Community you never knew existed but can no longer live without.
This is NEW and BIG and EXCITING … and SOOOO different from what
I was brought up with.
I’m the millennial that followed the rules: got the degrees, the jobs,
and the relationships I was “supposed to.”
And guess what, I NEVER really listened to what I wanted…until I did.
I want to share everything I've learned with you.
I will be your confidante, your to-go, your source for all things Childfree.
I deeply understand the hurdles you’ve jumped in order to come to this
massive (for some) decision.
I’ve figured out ways to live the Childfree lifestyle with joy, openness,
love, and freedom.
Let me tell you about what I’ve come up with.
I KNOW there are other womxn out there that want to live
this important decision more openly.
I’m not saying they want to change family members minds,
or shift an entire population to accept them and respect their choices
(that’s a whole other movement! One thing at a time!)
I’m making it my life’s work to live in alignment with what’s
important and meaningful to me and help other womxn get that alignment too.
I’ve hit the same walls and barriers many womxn have
when they’ve had to navigate these waters.
As a coach, a counselor, a friend and colleague to many,
I’ve had countless conversations with womxn about societal expectations,
personal expectations, and often the toughest one, family expectations.
I’ve found ways to ride the very emotional landscape of these situations.
When you pass that big hurdle, and have the conversation with yourself,
your partner, your family, and maybe even a professional mentor,
and you’re securely in acceptance of the decision to be child-free…
The next step can be really fuzzy.
Most of us have been there when a close friend has their new baby
and they disappear for 2-3 years because of parenting responsibilities.
They have the family of THEIR dreams and when you have that
catch-up-coffee-date you realize you have few things in common anymore.
Not that you don’t like each other, but you just don’t have the same vibe together anymore.
If you’re one of these womxn who’s thinking,
“where are my people?” and
“Where are the other womxn who think the same way I do
and who aren’t going to disappear
because they are still open to the idea of children?”
They want to live this same life.
They are clear they don’t want children
and have come to terms with the reality of a childfree future.
I’ve known what I want for a long time when it came to how
I wanted to structure MY family (4 legged fur-babies were always my preference).
I knew my future didn’t include children.
Because of the professions I chose, a counselor and coach,
I’ve learned a lot about the human condition.
Taking my education into my own hands, I’ve also learned
how to apply those skills to answering very specific childfree lifestyle questions.
You know the questions I’m talking about.
Now that I know what I don’t want,
Now that I know that hanging with my mom-friends isn’t like it used to be,
Now that I know I can have more consistent friendships with child-free people,
Now that I know I’m not going to have kids,
Sure, there are some wonderful books out there
on living with purpose or developing a professional career.
But so much of it was by men that certainly didn’t understand my choices,
or were religious or spiritual in ways that were difficult to apply to regular daily life.
And, unfortunately, the womxn in that space were about womxn who
We’ve all seen this bio on the back of a book,
“Author, Speaker, Wife, Mother.”
And while there’s nothing wrong with it, that word “Mother” dampens
my excitement a few notches because I know we fundamentally
view the world through different lenses.
Let me tell you—Oprah, Dolly Parton,
& Margaret Cho just aren’t enough.
I know how to be assertive and friendly and respectful and ask direct questions.
The difference with these new child-free friendships
was that they didn’t disappear.
It wasn’t like in my twenties when people typically “figure it all out”
and then start disappearing because parenthood called.
We could have phone calls that wouldn’t get cut off at
5 minutes because a parenting duty came up.
Listen, I don’t begrudge any of my friends' choices.
I truly love that they’re happy and healthy and living their dream life.
I see them make new, mom friends, people who can directly relate to their worlds
and I truly am happy they are getting their friendship needs met.
I wanted to know that the friends I was making were actually going to stick around
and that our values were the same.
They weren’t “Whatever the universe decides,” around the idea of children or,
“If it happens, it happens” type of people.
They KNEW their lives would not include children and
I’ve also met friends that were childfree by circumstance
and found out they weren’t able to have kids, or the opportunity had passed.
These womxn embraced this new future! The future that was decided for them.
They weren’t going to be parents, biological or otherwise.
Their future wouldn’t include children.
The womxn who want to talk and bounce ideas off of other womxn with the same view.
The womxn who aren’t “on the fence” about it.
I want you to know that I will be 100% real with you.
I may not be over the hill yet, but I’ve wasted enough time to
know what I want NOW.
If you are ready to embrace a future of childfree living and
follow your dreams and have built in support for it,
Join The Unapologetically Childfree Social Club
& start seeing how much your life can GROW
with friendship, support, and clarity that lasts.
Thank you for sticking with me and congratulations for beginning this journey for yourself. Here are some great places to continue growing and building your #yeslife.
After working with so many women on how to live unapologetically,
this is what they say:
“I can’t believe I finally found you.”
I needed to hear that I wasn't selfish, I just didn’t know it until now…Thank you!
“I didn’t realize I could live so openly, or that I had even been living in such isolation.”