Non-mothers: identities, ambiguity, biography making and life choices (2024)

Biographical Research and the Meanings of Mothering: Life Choices, Identities and Methods

Lyudmila Nurse (ed.) et al.

Published:

2023

Online ISBN:

9781447365655

Print ISBN:

9781447365624

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Biographical Research and the Meanings of Mothering: Life Choices, Identities and Methods

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Joan Cronin

Joan Cronin

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Pages

216–232

  • Published:

    September 2023

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Cronin, Joan, 'Non-mothers: identities, ambiguity, biography making and life choices', in Lyudmila Nurse, Lisa Moran, and Katerina Sidiropulu-Janku (eds), Biographical Research and the Meanings of Mothering: Life Choices, Identities and Methods (Bristol, 2023; online edn, Policy Press Scholarship Online, 23 May 2024), https://doi.org/10.1332/policypress/9781447365624.003.0011, accessed 26 May 2024.

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Abstract

This research draws on interviews with Irish women who consciously decided to forego the motherhood mandate, opting instead to pursue a life without children. The study examines the motives that influenced the women in their decision making, considers the ways in which society reacts to the women’s decision making, and the strategies and identity management techniques that women engage in to preserve a positive sense of self. The women’s narrative accounts document the complex and ambiguous development of a life trajectory based on personal desires and ambitions, free from the commitment and responsibilities involved in raising children.

Keywords: Non-motherhood, Conscious decision making, Biography making, Identity management, Ambiguity, Ireland

Subject

Couple and Family Social Work

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