Therese Shechter: ‘My so-called selfish life’ – how the child-free movement is reshaping the world

To have kids or not have kids? In a world where marriage and parenthood are still seen as the expected life path, what does it mean to defy convention and choose a different way?

This week, Jill talks to award-winning documentary filmmaker Therese Shechter about her revolutionary film, My So-Called Selfish Life and the unstoppable rise of the child-free movement.

In a world where reproductive rights are under attack, Therese explores how the freedom to choose whether or not to become a mother has never been more urgent.

She’s a child-free woman whose work delves deep into a subject that has often been shrouded in shame and stigma, and finds that for many women, there simply is no physiological or emotional imperative to have children.

Therese also drops some truth bombs about the “biological clock”, and the surprising number of women who regret becoming mothers, and finds that much of what we’ve been told about the drive to procreate is a social construct.

Just one quick content note: this episode was recorded last year, prior to the US election before we knew that J D Vance, that famous lover of childless cat ladies, would be Vice President, so keep that in mind while you’re listening.

You can follow Therese on Instagram @trixiefilms, find out more about her film, My So Called Selfish Life here or head to her website for information on her other work.

To stay in touch with Well Enough Alone, you can follow us on Instagram @wellenoughalonepod or follow Jill @jillstark__

Well Enough Alone is a Spare Room production. Our producers are Kieran Simpson and Trent Bartlett.

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Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.