Member of House of Lords Discusses Childlessness

All work, no play

The following excerpt is in the context of a much different article, the gist of which is that the notion of work-life balance implies something is wrong; if you are fulfilled at work, "chill out" time is uneccessary. While this idea could be spun into a tangent about childfree and careers, the main point of linking this article is the relevance of the quotes below.

Greenfield, CBE, a member of the House of Lords, the holder of 28 honorary degrees, a director of the Royal Institution, an author, a panel-list and TV personality, is one of science’s great operators.
. . .
All the above she has done while remaining childless, which she does not appear to regret in the slightest. In 2004 she told an interviewer: “I told him [Atkins] that I did not want children.” Today she says: “My then husband made it very clear he didn’t want them.” Perhaps it’s irrelevant who didn’t want what. As Greenfield had been put off motherhood years before by another man: “My brother. He’s 13 years younger than me. I was shocked at the horror of having babies and the smelly nappies and the sleepless nights. All that came as something truly horrible. Although we get on very well now, it came at a time in my life when I could neither be a little mum nor a playmate.”

Technorati Tag: childfree