I hope to soon find a childless woman to share my life with

By Vaughan Edwards 

I made the decision that I wanted to remain childless at the ripe young age of 15 (I am now 29). Back then, a lot of friends at school heavily criticised me for my choice. However, as an adult, more people I know, are respectful of my decision.

A common assumption people make when they hear that you don’t want children is that you must hate children, otherwise why won’t you want them. I do not hate children by any means. A funny quote from American “No Kidding” founder Jerry Steinberg says “I like women’s breasts, but I don’t want my own”. I adore children in general, but I feel having children of my own would sacrifice everything which I have really longed for. This includes independence, freedom, income, a good relationship, sleep and quality of life.

I have very mild Asperger’s syndrome and there is a risk that if I have a child, he or she may be affected on the autism spectrum, which can be a very big challenge for any parent. I anticipate that should I become a parent, I would struggle to raise a child with autism. I myself have now overcome many of the symptoms that come with this condition.

A very big challenge in not wanting to have children of my own, is finding a partner. I recently took part in a BBC3 documentary called “Sterilise Me” which will be broadcast in roughly December 2016/January 2017. I very nearly went through with the vasectomy procedure but chickened out at the last minute. The reason being that I would not know how to break the news that I had had this procedure to a potential partner. In the end, I decided that I would prefer to be in a relationship first and have the partner agree to this procedure before going through with it.

I would in due course love to meet a partner who feels the same and maybe start a meetup group for people who are childfree/childless and make a wider circle of friends. This would be a social group very similar to “No Kidding” in America.

The childfree life is without doubt the life I want to live. I am childless by choice and adore the freedom, activities and social life without kids. The only thing missing is a partner who feels the same, to share my life with.