Defining Adulthood Without Parenthood: Childfreeness among Women in Emerging Adulthood

Childfreeness is often examined through motivations or demographic trends, yet less is known about how it is experienced during emerging adulthood, a developmental period marked by openness, experimentation and identity consolidation. This qualitative study explores how childfree women in emerging adulthood make sense of their reproductive positioning. Twelve in-depth interviews were analysed using interpretative phenomenological analysis. Findings suggest that childfreeness is not merely a preference or postponement of parenthood but a developmental positioning integrated into identity formation, relational negotiation, and anticipated life trajectories. Participants articulated childfreeness early and framed it in relation to intensive motherhood norms, concerns about identity loss, and anticipated social reorganisation. Rather than reflecting indecision, childfreeness functioned as a coherent stance toward adult commitments. The study contributes to emerging adulthood scholarship by conceptualising childfreeness as one contemporary pathway through which adulthood can be actively defined.