'I don't need a child to be happy'

'I don't need a child to be happy' More sense in The Mail, in an article by Sharon Parsons.

'. However pretentious it may sound, there's the startling fact that my husband and I have severed the thread in our personal ancestry (unless, of course, he should decide to run off with a fertile 20-something).

Despite our respective nephews and nieces taking up the family baton, he and I know that we are not passing anything of ourselves on to future generations.

After an infinite genealogical timeline - impossible to imagine - we have drawn the mark in the sand. Enough. No more. Our bloodline stops here.

...

Recently there has been another flurry of research in the U.S. and Europe, which has found many women are happily deciding to remain childless. In this country, it's estimated one in five women will not have children through choice.

...

'Is it awful for you to be home alone?' queried one crashingly insensitive colleague after a few drinks one evening. 'I mean, without any kids around to liven things up, it must seem so quiet and dull for you and your husband at times.'

I bit hard on my lip and said nothing, recalling the previous weekend when my husband and I had turned up the music, got stuck into cooking and chatting with a glass on wine on the go, then had a crowd of friends over for an impromptu party that went on well into the early hours. Quiet and dull? I don't think so.'