In Aotearoa the number of people who will never have children is growing. Kathryn van Beek, one of the Otherhood anthology’s three co-editors, is joined by contributors Iona Winter, Henrietta Bollinger and Lily Duval for a more inclusive conversation about what makes a fulfilling life.

As Jackie Lee Morrison points out in review of Otherhood for Kete, the population birth rate in Aotearoa last year was 1.56 births per woman. Compared to the global population replacement birth rate of 2.1 babies per woman (Lancet Medical Journal, March 2024), this would suggest that a number of families in our country are childless. So, why are we so obsessed with the childbirth and child-rearing capabilities of others?

In Otherhood, co-editors Alie Benge, Kathryn van Beek and Lil O’Brien have assembled the perspectives of 36 writers for whom having children isn’t part of their life-path: from those who’ve chosen to remain child free, those who didn’t get to choose, and those whose version of family life looks a whole lot different to what they first envisioned.

Supported by: Chia Sisters