'I always wanted to have children. The earth might be in trouble—overpopulated, descending into ecological crisis—but I was always sure my kids would help make the world a better place. I would be a green-feminist supermum, having it all. Nothing turned out the way I expected.
'Like many women, Sian Prior arrived at the point where she was ready to start having babies—and found they were not hers to have. Three miscarriages with a supportive partner; a new partner who already had all the children he wanted; step-children; step-grandchildren; the decision to parent solo, followed by many rounds of fertility treatments.
'After all this Sian found herself, at fifty, childless and coming to terms. Weighing up the freedoms against the losses. Dealing with the unacknowledged legacy of her own lost father. Observing parenthood itself—how we succeed at it and how we fail—from a perspective outside the trenches.
'Compelling, moving, beautifully written and unexpectedly uplifting, Childless is her story.' (Publication summary)
'A memoir that charts loss, pain and recovery.'
'There are six of us: high school and university friends I have stayed in close touch with over the years; we are all in our mid-40s now. We are nurses, social workers, educators, writers, massage therapists and political activists. We are past the ideal childbearing years. Three of us had children and the other three did not.' (Introduction)
'Sian Prior’s second memoir deals with her unexpected childlessness, reflecting on the “terrible freedom” and longings wrought by a life she didn’t choose.'
'Sian Prior’s second memoir deals with her unexpected childlessness, reflecting on the “terrible freedom” and longings wrought by a life she didn’t choose.'
'There are six of us: high school and university friends I have stayed in close touch with over the years; we are all in our mid-40s now. We are nurses, social workers, educators, writers, massage therapists and political activists. We are past the ideal childbearing years. Three of us had children and the other three did not.' (Introduction)
'A memoir that charts loss, pain and recovery.'