âKids are great. Itâs a unique process that everyone should experience.â Except that today, 1 in 20 French people refuse to have children. What are the reasons for this âvoluntary infertility?â
Do we really know why we have children? Isnât having children an obstacle to personal and professional development? In an overpopulated and polluted world, isnât it selfish to take up too much space by having a family? Donât children cost too much to individuals and to society?
The author investigates with dozens of women and men for whom the âduty to procreateâ rings hollow. Among these ânon-parentsâ are exclusive lovers, artists, careerists, religious people, traumatized children, eternal teenagers, environmentalists, convinced Malthusians, as well as feminist activists who have made their refusal to give birth a standard, in order to assert themselves in a society that praises all mothers and family values.