I don’t plan to have children. That doesn’t mean I want them banished from my life | Rachel Connolly

As Britain’s birthrate falls, hostility towards children in public spaces seems to be rising. That’s sad for all of usIt struck me recently that, as a woman in my 30s, I am almost never asked about my plans to have children. Even in the few instances I have been, the question arose naturally in a related conversation and each time, when I said “Oh I don’t think I want children”, the other person responded politely and didn’t push any agenda.We could draw conclusions on what this says about other people’s impressions of my lifestyle or my mothering instincts. But let’s choose to see this anecdote in a positive light. I imagine that, even as recently as 10 years ago, I would have had to endure endless hectoring and intrusive comments about the so-called “biological clock”. Or about ending up lonely in my old age or having a life which feels somehow empty or unfulfilled, as if that never happens to people with children.Rachel Connolly is the author of the novel Lazy City Continue reading...

Comments

Opinions

Comments

Opinions

The UFT’s Mamdani support: Letters to the Editor — July 14, 2025

ASK DR ELLIE: My snoring is so loud it wakes the neighbours. What can I do about it?

When he agreed to my bold request after our first date, I got the instant ick. He's the first man to fall for my trick... even though every woman does it: JANE GREEN

ALEXANDRA SHULMAN'S NOTEBOOK: Perfect night is ruined... by a swarm of flying ants

PETER HITCHENS: Lucy Letby's 'confession' notes, and why they may not be worth the scraps of paper they're written on

Is anyone else sick of the nepo brats and their Insta squabbles?: SARAH VINE

MAIL ON SUNDAY COMMENT: Our tolerance is being tested to the limit

FLOURISHING AFTER 50: My daughter's expensive wedding is ruining our retirement plans - can we cut back without losing face?

India opener KL Rahul's classy century against England was a lesson in old-school batting, writes NASSER HUSSAIN

TONY HETHERINGTON: I was hit with £100 fine while queuing to leave a car park

JEFF PRESTRIDGE: Shameless insurance hikes make me steaming mad!

Kathy Hochul’s only slowing down the suffering from her green-energy lunacy

NYC’s broken election system needs far more than these Band-Aid fixes

The Dalai Lama is planning his succession as the ultimate protest against China

SIR CLIVE WOODWARD: The three key areas the Lions will have to be immaculate in to beat Australia… and I've changed my mind about the back-row trio in my starting XV

PETER HITCHENS: Britain has become France's Rwanda as we usher ashore the migrants they don't want

DAN HODGES: If Starmer really wants to stop the boats he needs to get nasty and come up with his own Alligator Alcatraz - but Lord Hermer is blocking a tougher stance

I discovered my husband's fantasy on his secret Reddit account. I had no idea these sick groups existed... those poor girls: ASK JANA

Idiotic ‘cap-and-invest’ program hurt California — and it may be coming NY next

Why the biggest domestic intelligence threats are often home-grown

BEL MOONEY: How can I cope with my parents' poisonous divorce?

JESSICA BOULTON: Why are so many 40-somethings like me obsessed with Jennifer Aniston's love life?

Americans need full answers on the Secret Service’s Trump assassination-attempt failures

‘Assassination culture’ makes ICE its new target — and Dems fan the flames

STEPHEN GLOVER: Britain is broken. Wherever you look the State is failing. In many ways the mess is worse than in the 1970s - when Labour last ruined the country

ANDREW NEIL: It sends a shiver down the spine but I'm not sure Farage and Le Pen would do a worse job than these two puffed-up losers

Outrageous advocacy for antisemitic Zohran: Letters to the Editor — July 12, 2025

The England star who could be boosted up the batting order and why Lord's are struggling to get the crowd in: BUMBLE AT THE TEST

EDEN CONFIDENTIAL: Mother of Lord Monson's 'devastating snub' to cancer-striker son

Don’t fall for the ‘blue-washing’ drive to hide Mamdani’s cop hate

ALEX BRUMMER: Neglect of UK innovation happening before our eyes

Are the Dukes balls good enough? We are constantly having to change them and it's a nonsense, writes DAVID LLOYD

Clever Brydon Carse helped England out of a hole - Jamie Smith is great with the bat, but needs someone to stay in with him, writes NASSER HUSSAIN

How Trump can stop killings in Ukraine and score a win for the US — and himself

How the Hamptons turned hideous: Local MAUREEN CALLAHAN exposes dirty secrets of wealthy elites... and shames the worst A-list offenders (like a certain TV host with a filthy proclivity)

BORIS JOHNSON: Channel migrants are shock troops recruited by Emmanuel Macron for his jihad against Brexit

Behind Grok’s racist debacle, Dems’ violent rage and other commentary

AMANDA PLATELL: Why I have no sympathy for vacuous, social-climbing Geri Halliwell after her perfect life careered out of control

Angelina Jolie's spiteful 'f*** you' move with the man Brad Pitt loathes most: Insiders tell how children now 'openly detest' their father and reveal final 'kick in the teeth' to ALISON BOSHOFF

Letters to the Editor: L.A. Zoo's messy breakup comes 'with heartbreak and deja vu' for former GLAZA employee

CHRIS HUGHES: 'UK citizens could be harmed as Iran widens its target library'

Cyber attacks are evolving – so too must government response

Gen Z is afraid of sex. And for good reason.

Gregg claims he's been hung out to dry - just like a pair of the underpants he never wore: JAN MOIR

Made in Chelsea star hit by fresh setback after bid to crack America ends in sudden failure... amid criticism for ditching dog because of 'busy' schedule: RICHARD EDEN'S DIARY

QUENTIN LETTS: The more Napoleon burbled on, the more you understood why his wife whacked him

TOM UTLEY: I no longer have the slightest wish to 'save' the decaying NHS. But, for the sake of our mental health, please leave our pubs alone

Mamdani just latest mayor wannabe who thinks they can police the world

The NEA’s antisemitic ADL split: Letters to the Editor — July 11, 2025

We’re politicizing Pilates now? Or are Gen Z spending waaay too much time analyzing instead of enjoying themselves

Easing cannabis restrictions would set back the ‘Golden Age’ . . . and boost China

America’s largest teachers’ union puts lefty politics over kids — Congress should step in

Inside the Times’ sick scaremongering on New Yorkers losing health care

Mayor Adams is right: New York ABSOLUTELY should ban masked ‘protests’

The week in whoppers: TV host Tiffany Cross, Dem leader Hakeem Jeffries go bonkers on deportations and more

Fresh proof America dodged a Kamala bullet despite her kid gloves treatment from the media

Lying ex-CIA head John Brennan belongs in prison — but I’ll settle for eternal shame

CHRISTOPHER STEVENS reviews: The Great Plague with Rob Rinder and Ruth Goodman: Moralising TV presenters spoiled this absorbing look at plague-hit London

Why England were right to abandon Bazball on day one - and the technical flaw holding Ollie Pope's batting back: BUMBLE ON THE TEST

Zohran Mamdani’s 2020 Twitter meltdowns shows he’s no leader —socialist threatens to bring NYC back to bad old days