Women Without Kids

The Revolutionary Rise of an Unsung Sisterhood

By: Ruby Warrington

Narrated by: Ruby Warrington

“A startling, confronting, and liberating treatise.”—Holly Whitaker, New York Times bestselling author of Quit Like a Woman

What is “woman” if not “mother”?

Anything she wants to be.

Foregoing motherhood has traditionally marked a woman as “other.” With no official place setting for her in our society, she has hovered on the sidelines: the quirky girl, the neurotic career obsessive, the “eccentric” aunt. Instead of continuing to paint women without kids as sad, self-obsessed, or somehow dysfunctional, what if we saw them as boldly forging a first-in-a-civilization vision for a fully autonomous womankind? Or as journalist and thought leader Ruby Warrington asks, What if being a woman without kids were in fact its own kind of legacy?

Taking in themes from intergenerational healing to feminism to environmentalism, this personal look and anthropological dig into a stubbornly taboo topic is a timely and brave reframing of what it means not to be a mom. Our experiences and discourse around non-motherhood are central to women’s ongoing fight for gender equality. And whether we are childless by design or circumstance, we can live without regret, shame, or compromise.

Bold and tenderhearted, Women Without Kids seeks first and foremost to help valorize a path that is the natural consequence of women having more say about the choices we make and how our lives play out. Within this, it unites the unsung sisterhood of non-mothers—no longer pariahs or misfits, but as a vital part of our evolution and collective healing as women, as humans, and as a global family.

©2023 Ruby Warrington (P)2023 Sounds True

Critic reviews

“I have read countless books on the subject of chosen childlessness, and I can’t remember encountering one written with such candor, care, and precision of thought. It’s easy to be glib about this subject, to tuck into defensiveness even while espousing pride and certainty. In Women Without Kids, Ruby Warrington does just the opposite. She tells her story with deep insight, great humor, and, best of all, an endless curiosity about the motives of her own mind. She’s also done her research and knows her history, which she uses to draw important connections between the personal choices we make and the political and social landscapes that inform them. Essential reading no matter how you feel about kids!”—Meghan Daum, editor of Selfish, Shallow, and Self-Absorbed: Sixteen Writers on the Decision Not to Have Kids

“Women Without Kids is a necessary invitation for us to reconsider our relationship to and with motherhood. Traditionally, being a child-free woman is expected to come with shame and regret—Ruby’s latest work adds celebration and necessary nuance to the story of women and people of all genders intentionally living child-free.”—Rachel Cargle, founder of The Loveland Foundation, The Loveland Group, and Rich Auntie Supreme

“In Women Without Kids, Ruby Warrington offers a compassionate exploration into what can be a highly loaded and emotional topic—the choice whether or not to have children. She explores the different factors that contribute to this decision, while her honest and vulnerable sharing of her personal journey inspires deep self-reflection in readers. Women Without Kids is a must-read for anyone seeking a full understanding of all the dynamics that play into this significant life choice.”—Dr. Nicole LePera, New York Times bestselling author of How to Do the Work

She was reading to me!

I needed every word! Thank you Ruby for being a voice for people like me and for feeling empowered by it!

Empowering

I wish I had had this book in my twenties when I struggled more potently with feeling different for not wanting to be a mother. But at 38, I still found clarity and empowerment in Warrington’s research and personal story. I recommend it to parents, non parents by choice and non parents not by choice, alike

Loved it

I loved this book and the reading of it was an enriching and entertaining presence in my ears. Highly recommend.

Clarity

That I’m not alone in my thoughts on how society condemns us for not having children but also get no help

Feeling seen!

Women Without Kids so carefully and concisely puts into words all the reasons women do not need, want or should be expected to bear children. From difficulty in fertility to those that choose an "affirmative no", it is confirmation that women are more than and complete without the need for dependants.