It's always difficult to choose just the right gift for loved ones, but if you have parents, siblings or nieces and nephews or friends who can't seem to understand your childfree status, please think about some of the following books and suggestions that would be age-suitable. Additionally, you just might plant a kernel of thought in a young person's mind about fully considering whether to have children or not.
The Ostrich Factor -- Our Population Myopia by Garrett Hardin
A leading figure in the debate on overpopulation tackles a host of unpopular issues as he critiques the dangerous trend toward unchecked growth. As one of our leading thinkers on problems of human overpopulation, he assails the recklessness and basic ecological ignorance of economists and others who champion the idea of unbounded growth. Hardin delivers an uncompromising critique of mainstream economic thinking. Science has long understood the limits of our environment, he notes, and yet economists consistently turn a blind eye to one feature we share with all of our planet's inhabitants -- the potential for irreversible environmental damage through overcrowding.
The Chosen Lives of Childfree Men by Patricia W. Lunneborg
Interviews with thirty men in the US and UK between June and December 1996, with such questions as Reasons Why People Say No To Kids, as well as internal, personal reasons, with exploration into how they made their decision and what reactions it got from family, friends, and colleagues.
Pride and Joy: The Lives and Passions of Women Without Children by Terri Casey
Amazon Reader Review: "Terri Casey courageously breaks with the unconscious assumption that all women want and need children to be happy. With six billion people on the planet we are not in any need for that number to grow. When will we face the truth that many women aren't good mothers, don't like children and even abuse and murder those they thought they had to have in order to be "women." Being childless by choice has to become as respectable as having a child. The real-life stories in this book convey a new level of consciousness about women's lives without children that deserves serious attention. I recommend this book to anyone interested in the welfare of society and the freedom of choice."
