Beyond motherhood
Understanding the lives of voluntarily childless women in a pronatalist society
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 15097890 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Siwar Makhoul Khoury (0000-0002-1789-8588, Tel Hai Academic College, corresponding author), Siwar Makhoul-Khoury (Tel Hai Academic College), Omer Lans (Tel Hai Academic College), Vered Shenaar-Golan (Tel Hai Academic College), Vered Shenaar‐golan (0000-0002-4421-4241, Tel Hai Academic College) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Pages | 1-13 |
| Publication date | 2026-02-03 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Culture Health & Sexuality (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1369-1058 • E-ISSN: 1464-5351 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/13691058.2026.2618746 |
| PMID | 41633560 |
| OpenAlex | W7127432704 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 2 |
| References cited | 13 |
This qualitative study examines the lived experiences of a small purposively selected sample of women in Israel who had consciously chosen to remain childfree within a strongly pronatalist context. Informed by a constructivist feminist approach, we conducted semi-structured interviews with participants who self-identified as childfree by choice. Thematic analysis yielded three themes. The first of these - redefining femininity and the embodied self - shows how participants challenged assumptions that equated womanhood with motherhood, framing femininity as rooted in autonomy and bodily integrity. The second theme - relationships, sexuality, and navigating social expectations - highlights how participants managed reproductive intentions, relational boundaries, and stigma. The third theme - autonomy, freedom, and the validation of choice - demonstrates how participants described childfreeness as a fulfilling life pathway aligned with personal values and emotional freedom. Interpreted through a social constructionist lens, the findings suggest that voluntary childlessness should be understood not as a lifestyle preference but as a consciously articulated identity shaped by moral reasoning and negotiation with social norms. Study findings offer an in-depth account of meaning-making among women who actively claim a childfree identity within a collectivist society
Autonomy · Childlessness · Embodied cognition · Femininity · Framing (construction · Qualitative research · Situational ethics · Social constructionism · Thematic analysis · Evolutionary Psychology and Human Behavior · Maternal Mental Health During Pregnancy and Postpartum · Reproductive Health and Technologies
The Truth About (M)otherhood
Mis)conceptualising themes, thematic analysis, and other problems with Fugard and Potts’ (2015) sample-size tool for thematic analysis
Regretting parenthood in a family friendly, ‘gender equal’ society
Choosing motherhood? Agency and regret within reproduction and mothering retrospective accounts
I am my own future” representations and experiences of childfree women
Contributions of Sociodemographic Changes to the Increase in Permanent Childlessness in Brazil
A phenomenological exploration of the childfree choice in a sample of Australian women
The feminization of freedom
Stigma Management among the Voluntarily Childless
The Status of Method
Childfree And Feminine
| Unique citing works | 2 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 2 |
| Citation span | 2026 - 2026 (1) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 1 |