Childlessness

Childlessness is not having a child. Since the 1970s, there are more childless people.^[1] There are two kinds of childlessness, voluntary and involuntary.

Voluntary childlessness is when people choose to not have children. People do this for several reasons, which include:

• Celibacy (not having sexual intercourse)
• Not wanting to have a child (see Childfree)
• Not having enough money to take care of a child
• Being too old to have a child

Voluntary childlessness is sometimes called childfree.

There are also several reason for involuntary childlessness, including:

• Infertility, which means they are unable to biologically have children.
• the death of an infant or child either before, during, or shortly after birth.

Options for involuntary childlessness

Sometimes a couple can have a child through artificial insemination, when a sperm is place in a woman's uterus immediately after ovulation. Another option is in vitro fertilization (or IVF). In this process, a sperm and an egg are placed together until fertilization happens, then the egg is put into the uterus.