Reviews for Two Is Enough: A Couple's Guide to Living Childless by Choice

The average rating for Two Is Enough: A Couple's Guide to Living Childless by Choice based on 2 reviews is 5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2011-04-05 00:00:00 Geir A Moa warning: reading this book was a very personal experience for me, so this won't be an objective review. 2013 is the year i celebrate 7 years of marriage and the year i turn 30. when my husband and i were dating, we both felt that we didn't want children but we were also 21 years old so we reserved the right to change our minds. this hasn't happened, despite countless people telling me that i would wake up one morning and "just want them," especially once my friends started procreating. well- my friends have started, and here i am. i DO like children. one of my favorite lines from laura s. scott is "i like kids, i just don't want to own one." i have nieces and a nephew and a very precious baby george in my life, and they bring me great joy. last week some little kids sent me homemade valentines in the mail and i thought i would combust with the adorableness of it all...but i still don't see any of them living in my house with me. it's also worth mentioning that i make my living working with teenagers. i love my job and for the most part i find teens delightful. but i've also seen firsthand what happens to these adorable desirable infants 13 or so years down the line. i've seen teens who have been screwed up by awful parents or the foster care system. i've also seen teens who, even with amazing parents- have been screwed up by mental illness or substance abuse or the stupid things their friends want them to do. even so, that's only one of many, many, many reasons i have chosen not to have children. in summary, i don't want to have babies and this was a great book for me to read. scott explores the different reasons people might not want to have babies and why they are legitimate reasons, as well as the different reasons people tell childfree people they SHOULD have babies, and why they might not be legitimate. i've struggled with people telling me that i am selfish, that i won't truly be an adult until i am a parent, and that i will die alone and filled with regret. scott gently and respectfully exposes these myths for the crap they are, all the while wondering why it has to be an "us and them" thing. everyone should be free to choose whether or not to have children. everyone deserves to be respected for whatever choice they make. if you're struggling to make the choice, this book may be helpful for you. it offered me a lot of perspective and food for thought.

Review # 2 was written on 2009-10-27 00:00:00 Harry Watkins This is a wonderful book that explores choosing to be childfree. The author decided to write this book when a friend asked her why she got married if she didn't want kids - as if that's the only reason to be married or in a relationship. Laura Scott surveyed and/or interviewed 171 people to find out 1) their reasons for choosing a childfree life and 2) to explore that decision-making process. What she found was a wide range of reasons people choose to remain childfree and that almost all of them expressed no regret about their decision. Scott explores the choices we have now dealing with having children or not, how people decided, what their primary reasons were, dealing with dating/marriage/relationships, the myths about childfree people and how to cope in a pronatalist culture. She also includes a copy of the initial survey she used in her study. While focusing on childfree individuals and couples, Scott is not anti-family or pushing this lifestyle on readers - she is merely exploring this option as one of many. Very well done!