You’re never quite sure what you’re marrying into family-wise, which makes thein-lawssomewhat of a lottery.
Below you will also findBored Panda’sinterviews with two experts, Assistant Professor of Health Communication at the University of Connecticut,Elizabeth Hintz, and Professor of Sociology at the University of Maine,Amy Blackstone, who were kind enough to answer a few of our questions regarding the topic of (not) having children.
Welcoming a new addition to the family is typically a joyous occasion
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This redditor was shocked to hear her SIL offer to take her newborn “off her hands”
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Having children is a common topic nowadays, and seemingly so are jokes about it
“However, despite being common, these jokes can breed feelings of resentment, hostility, and negatively affect relational satisfaction and trust,” she continued. “As a result, people can become estranged—voluntarily choose to stop associating with a family member—or the person subjected to these jokes can be marginalized, excluded for being different from other family members.”
The expert pointed out that it’s not only the type of jokes that is popular, but talks about children in general. “Children are a popular topic of conversation among adult friends and family members,” she said, adding that another running joke says that nowadays, the question “do you have children?” for 20 or 30-something-year-olds is the equivalent of “what’s your major?” for college students.
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Many people choose not to have children for one reason or another
But there are also people seemingly stuck in between, not yet sure about whether or not to have children. “While we know that people who identify as childfree—having made the explicit and intentional choice to never become a parent—do not tend to change their minds, we know less about those who may be on the fence. Though, recent patterns show a decline in childlessness among women who have neared the end of their child bearing years.”
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It’s important to distinguish between childfree and childless people
As (not) having children is a rather common topic, there are common misconceptions related to it, too. “There is often a stereotype that people who do not have children do not want them—choose to bechildfree—but oftentimes people without children are struggling with infertility—arechildless—although still very much desiring children,” Elizabeth Hintz emphasized as an expert in navigating challenging health-related conversations.
She discussed a study she took part in carrying out, which examined 30 years of news coverage aboutchildfree people, and found that very rarely did news publications differentiate betweenchildfreeandchildlesspeople. That’s how the harmful stigma associated with childfreedom is sometimes inappropriately applied to childless people.
“Imagine trying to conceive and struggling with infertility while being chastised for not having children because others mistakenly assume you do not want them. These conversations can add undue stress and conjure feelings of added grief for couples dealing with infertility,” Hintz pointed out.
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Many people thought that this was not a joke
Some believed, though, that the redditor overreacted
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