Beyond Motherhood: Choosing a Life Without Children

by Jeanne Safer

Book Overview

From Simon & Schuster, Beyond Motherhood follows Jeanne Safer who, after years of soul-searching, has made the conscious decision not to have children.

In this book, Safer and women across the country share insights that dispel the myth of childless women as emotionally barren or incomplete, and encourage all women to honestly confront their needs--whether they choose motherhood or not.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0671793446
• ISBN13: 9780671793449
• Release Date: February 1996
• Publisher: Pocket Books
• Length: 208 Pages
• Weight: 0.44 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 6.2" x 8.6"

Customer Reviews

Very good

This book had stories from all different women at all different stages in life. It discussed their passions and reasons for not having children. It gave a lot of insight into the psychological aspects of the a decision to be childfree and despite her having a phd, she explains things in a way that makes it a very easy and sensible read. Her analyzation of dreams is a little different, but intriguing...

Very sensitively written, awesome book.

The author approaches the subject with incredible sensitivity without "baby bashing" and acknowledging that there is grief and loss involved. She goes into different situations where women decide not to have children, touching on commonly perceived stereotypes of childless women and debunking them, such as the idea that childless women do not have a nuturing side, that they are cold and bitter. This is an incredible book that I would recommend to anyone wavering on the motherhood question.

Choice made long ago

As a woman who made the choice at a young age NOT to have children, it was great to find a book that supported and explored that option. Bravo!

Try to get a copy of this book...

...it's the best I have ever read about deciding whether or not you want children. Jeanne Safer presents the issues head-on, in a warm yet practical, non-sentimental way: how much do you need time alone? how conflicted was/is your relationship with your own parents? does your partner want children? are you afraid you'll be alone in old age? how much are you able to give to another person? what are the realities of your career/chosen path in life? how much do you value your intimacy with your partner? Safer supplements a thorough discussion of these and other issues with case studies of numerous women's lives. Other books on the subject offer stories, poems, essays. However, I've found that these don't help much when you're not sure what motherhood is REALLY like. Safer gives you the nuts and bolts, compassionately.

One of the better books on voluntary childlessness.

This is as good a book as I have seen on the psychological aspects of voluntary childlessness. Ms. Safer digs deep into her own and her subjects' pasts and personalities to explore what factors might lead a woman to choose not to have children