Voluntary Childlessnes
The choice of voluntary childlessness, which is part of the Childfree by Choice movement, one of the elements of the Second Demographic Transition, is today being discussed in online forums. Following an exploratory and descriptive content analysis of an international discussion forum dedicated to non-parents by choice, four categories of motivations could be identified : a simple lack of desire for children, a questioning of the roles and constraints imposed by a child, a negative perception of children and « altruistic reasons », linked to environmental deterioration and overpopulation. Issues associated with transmission (hereditary diseases, offspring qualities, gene transmission, family name, inheritance, etc.) are also raised, demonstrating the importance of some of these concerns among the advocates of voluntary childlessness. This study validates the conclusions of the sociopsychological research carried out on this population and broadens the analysis by taking into account the debates surrounding the transmission issues, a topic under-explored in the context of voluntary childlessness.