Pride and Joy: The Lives and Passions of Women Without Children is a collection of interviews with 25 women who have chosen not to have children. In lively stories and vivid voices, these diverse narrators talk proudly of their contributions to their communities, causes, and families, and they speak joyfully of intimate relationships with husbands and partners, of family and friends, work, volunteer and leisure activities, solitude, and connections with children. Their stories dispel the social myth that women must have children to be happy, and they debunk the stereotypes of childless women.

For the 20 percent of U.S. women who are currently childless by choice or by chance, Pride and Joy offers validation and community. For the millions of women deciding whether to have children, it provides inspiration. For parents, siblings, and friends of women who have chosen or may choose not to have children, it offers insight. "This is an important, fascinating, and brave book. Women have been told how they must have children to be happy. Now here comes a book that shows how happy women can be without children. All of the women profiled are innovators, thinkers, risktakers who have listened hard to hear their own voice through the cultural din and not followed convention for convention's sake. Each tells us that there are many ways to make the journey of life worthwhile."

-- Pepper Schwartz, author of Love Between Equals: How Peer Marriage Really Works