Who to watch, read and follow if you’re childfree or childless

Feel free to add yours

Women who don’t have children have been trending this week, after an appearance by actor Tracee Ellis Ross during Oprah Winfrey’s interview with Kamala Harris on Thursday.

Ross appeared via video link and thanked Harris and Winfrey “for what they represent” – neither has biological children.

“As a 52 year old childless woman, I want to say to the people who think that a woman’s worth is measured in her baby count … the childless women have been mothering the world and elevating culture as aunties, godmothers, teachers, mentors, sisters, friends - and the list goes on. You do not need to push out a baby to help push humanity forward,” she said, to much applause.

(The background to this: Comments made by JD Vance, Trump’s running mate, about Harris and “childless cat ladies miserable at their own lives and the choices that they’ve made,” recently resurfaced. Vance has faced a backlash and Taylor Swift signed herself “childless cat lady” in an endorsement for Harris.)

Ross’s comments (which I love!) made me think about the childless/childfree people I follow online, the women and men who say useful and helpful things about a complex topic, and I thought I’d share a short list. (Read here about why I talk about feeling childless and childfree.) These are the people I’ve naturally graduated to, given my own experiences.

Tracee Ellis Ross

She’s great on Instagram generally, in talking about fashion, her life, her mum (Diana Ross) and fitness. She also appeared on Glennon Doyle’s We Can Do Hard Things podcast where she talked about not having had kids and how she thinks of it “with curiosity instead of heartbreak.”

Rich Auntie Supreme

Rachel Cargle’s Instagram, Rich Auntie Supreme, gets curious about life without children, mainly aimed at people who “indulge in the lifestyle of being childfree by choice.” These women indulge “in the richness of being a meaningful part of the villages around her,” she says.

Ruby Warrington

Defining herself as “childfree by choice,” Ruby Warrington published “Women Without Kids – The revolutionary rise of an unsung sisterhood” last year. She also has a podcast of the same name and runs occasional events.

Meghan Daum

Daum’s book, “Selfish, Shallow & Self-Absorbed: Sixteen Writers On The Decision Not To Have Kids,” is a collection of essays that “gives voice to the complexities of assuming and enjoying a ‘child-free’ life,” The New York Times said. The stories are varied and explore all the nuances of something that many people don’t necessarily feel is a clear-cut decision. She also writes

The Unspeakable with Meghan Daum

.

Jody Day

I must confess that I haven’t yet read Day’s book “Living the life unexpected – how to find hope, meaning and a fulfilling future without children,” but it’s on my shelf ready to go. Her newsletter,

Gateway Elderwomen

, explores what it’s like to be an older woman without children (Day is 60).

Robin Hadley

A rare male voice talking about childlessness, Hadley has long researched what it means to be a man without kids, and writes the

Doing Being with Robin Hadley

newsletter, and his website has a useful list of resources. He’s also written a book: “How is a Man Supposed to be a Man? Male childlessness – a life course disrupted.”

Glynnis MacNicol

MacNicol published her memoir, “I’m Mostly Here to Enjoy Myself,” earlier this year (I am yet to obtain it!) where she details a juicy summer in Paris and says she is “immensely” enjoying her decision to remain single and childfree. This month she also wrote a piece for The New York Times about how much she enjoys time with her friends’ kids (unlocked article here).

Farrah Storr

As well as being a big cheese at Substack (the platform this newsletter is published on), Storr writes

Things Worth Knowing with Farrah Storr

, including a personal story about trying for children and what happened after she then made the decision not to.

Marianne Power

Power published “Love Me! One woman’s search for a different happy ever after” last month, a memoir exploring whether, and how, to have a “life full of love without marriage and kids.” A brilliant read, whether you have a partner and children or not.

Poorna Bell

Bell writes extensively about being childfree and her newsletter,

As I Was Saying with Poorna Bell

covers this and more.

And apart from Oprah, Tracee and Kamala, other women without kids you can look to for inspiration include Helen Mirren, Dolly Parton, Jennifer Aniston, Anita Rani, Kim Cattrall, Virginia Woolf, Stevie Nicks, Michelle Yeoh, Jane Austen, Coco Chanel, Kylie Minogue, Gloria Steinem, Katharine Hepburn… who have I missed?

I hope this is helpful in some way. Feel free to let me know who you follow, books you’ve read and so on. I’d love to hear from you!