I think they have so much to teach adults, so I appreciate them for that.

I just won't be having my own.

The world perceives child-free women in the most negative light possible.

I think it's not a need for women anymore.

We don't need to have children.

We find that our own happiness is more important; our own mental health is more important.

We have been called selfish.

We've been called narcissists, which is kind of strange.

I do have a coworker who recently had a baby.

All of my other coworkers were like ogling over him and making silly faces and I'm just like typing away on my computer.

When it comes to when I knew that I didn't wanna have children, it's hard to say only because I don't remember ever feeling like I did.

I don't know what the feeling is like to want to have children.

When I am in groups and there are persons talking about wanting children and I don't know how to respond.

In middle school, one of my friends, she said she never had the desire to have kids.

And she said that and I was like, "Oh, I didn't realize that that was an option."

And when she said that I was like, "I don't know if I wanna have kids either."

What really sealed the deal for me was my time as a teacher and my time as a nanny.

I remember feeling two different ways about my students.

One was that I wanted to adopt them all and keep them and take care of them and love them and nurture them.

And then the other part of me was like, "Oh my gosh, this is all day, every day."

And that's when the first seeds of maybe this isn't for me started to spring up.

I knew for sure that having kids was not what I wanted to do because of my gut instinctive reaction, which was kind of like illness, kind of like a tunnel that just shot out in front of me and looked very, very dark.

I find it very interesting that a lot of the people who do give me push back on not wanting to have kids are women.

If you are a woman and you don't understand why somebody else doesn't wanna have kids, learn about it, ask about it.

Don't immediately like shut them down or think that they're heartless.

I don't think that I'm a heartless person.

Hands down responses from women are way worse.

With men, it's more like a curiosity like, "Oh, how did you come to this decision?"

Women see it as an invitation to convince me otherwise it's, "Oh, not right now. But you'll want some in the future."

"What are you gonna do when you're old and you're alone?"

Whatever I want. That's what I'll do.

Regret is another threat.

"Also, you'll regret it when you get older."

The thing about regret is you don't regret not doing what you don't want to do.

My parents know I don't want kids.

They've known pretty much my whole life.

I've kind of prepped them already, like, "Don't ask because you know, the answer."

In terms of pressure from my family, I don't get it quite so much from my parents, but I do get it from my grandmother.

(The) pressure to marry somebody Jewish so that I could raise Jewish kids.

I understand and that she's like, come where she's coming from and like, I know she just wants the best for me.

But at the end of the day, I always end the conversation saying, "It's my decision. It's my life."

(I'm) Identified (as) an Afro-Latina.

My father is from the Dominican Republic who has African roots.

My mother is from Puerto Rico.

So when I think about if I were raising a child in this world, I think black child in this world, you can't control how other people perceive that.

My mother was bent on me having kids, "Oh, they would be so perfect."

But I've spoken to them and I've started saying I'm pushing 40 and my time is up.

And I've been saying that since I was 35. I'm now 36.

But it seems to work.

My stepmother was, we were fighting and she said, "You'll see what this is like when you have kids."

And I said, "I'm never having kids."

And she said, "Yes, you will. You don't know what you want, you'll change your mind. You'll see."

What doesn't occur to people is that a five-year-old could walk up to a grown-up and say, "I can't wait to be a mommy when I grow up,"

and they will never say you'll change your mind.

But if a little five-year-old girl comes up and says, "I don't want kids," she's loony or she's too young, she can't possibly know her mind.

Guys in my past have been like, "Oh, she'll make a great mom."

This is perfect.

It's been important to find someone who is interested in and cares about me for me and not what I can produce for him.

Like I have Tinder and like, I'll see guys on there that are like maybe ten years older than me and they're like looking to start a family.

I'm like, that's probably the worst thing you could put in your bio 'cause that's making every woman run away.

I mean, at least that's how I see it.

Nowadays, dating in New York City is really tough and I don't go on more than like, three or four dates with somebody.

Not on purpose just because, you know, dating sucks.

But it hasn't come up, it hasn't become a deal breaker up to this point.

My partner and I were very serious in our relationship once we moved and bought a home.

He and I had a discussion about whether we wanted children and both of us agreed that we don't.

I think he just agreed with my decision not to more so than anything.

'Cause he respects whatever I decide to do with my body.

There are lots of other things that make a woman a woman. Caring and nurturing.

I love teaching and the passing on of traditions and culture and knowledge, all that stuff that goes with being a woman, but I don't have to have a child to do that.

Why can't women have that independence?

Why can't women have all these careers or have these passions that are unhindered by any sort of extra responsibility placed on them?

There's something about women who don't want kids that is in a way threatening, in the same way, a happily single woman is threatening.

You wanna have kids. That's fine.

I need you to respect my life choice not to have kids. It's a two-way street.

Women aren't allowed to necessarily make decisions in a very confident way.

We're supposed to just follow a script.

And I think because women who have chosen to be childless aren't following that script. It makes people really uncomfortable.

There's no one way to be a woman.

We all just want the best for ourselves.

So, let's all accept that.