Child-Free by Choice

So over the weekend I was watching "Ghosts of Girlfriends Past" with Matthew McConaughey and Jennifer Garner. Near the beginning of the movie, three women (bridesmaids) are discussing available men at a wedding. One mentions a particular man, the next says, "He's married." The third says, "Oh, they don't have kids. They're not really married if they don't have kids."

Have you ever encountered this mindset IRL?

Carol

UGH! No...thankfully I haven't.

Actually if anything...I have encountered the opposite.  People saying things like, "Oh then it's still honeymoon period" even after finding out we've been together 8 yrs/married 7 yrs because we don't have kids.  And while that's annoying too, it sounds a little more like "oh so you guys are still happy and having tons of sex" which is fine with me ;-)

I have also encountered quite a few men (especially when I was single) who were really happy UNTIL the kids came along, and then started to feel pushed out by their wives.  Sometimes literally in cases of prolonged co-sleeping.  Other times just ignored while the wives lavished attention on the kiddos.  So in that case (while it's unfortunate and 100% wrong) I'd imagine single women would have a better chance of "nabbing" a married father...kwim?

Perfect timing on this question! My mom was just telling me last night about a man in their community who is a few years older than me and dying of cancer. When I asked if he had a family, her response was "He's married but doesn't have any kids, thank goodness!" I was more curious whether he had a support system during his illness but my mom's reaction led me to believe that it would be even more tragic if he had children and were suffering from this illness.

RoseAnn