Toni's story ~ I don't want children!

Meet the Women Who Won't Have Babies - Because They're Not Eco Friendly.

When Toni terminated her pregnancy, she did so in the firm belief she was helping to save the planet. At 27 this young woman was sterilised to "protect the planet". Her boyfriend (now husband) presented her with a congratulations card. Toni says "Having children is selfish. It's all about maintaining your genetic line at the expense of the planet. Every person uses more food, more water, more land, more fossil fuels, more trees and produces more rubbish, more pollution, more greenhouse gases, and adds to the problem of over-population."

Nothing in Toni's upbringing gave any clues as to the views which would shape her adult life. "No sooner had we finished our wedding cake than all our relatives started to ask when they could expect a new addition to the family.

"When I was a child, I developed a passion for the environment - I became a vegetarian when I was 15. The only person who understood how I felt was my first husband, who didn't want children either. We both wanted to save the planet - not add to the problem."

"I'd been on the Pill for five years and didn't want to take hormone-based contraception indefinitely. "My GP said I was far too young to be sterilised, and that I was bound to change my mind one day. "We decided my husband would have a vasectomy instead. He was 25, but the GP allowed him to go ahead. "I found it insulting that she thought that, just because I was a woman, I'd reach a point where an urge to breed would overcome all rational thought."

"Through my job I made many friends who, like me, were more interested in trying to change society and save the planet rather than having families of our own. "We used to say that if ever we did want children, we'd adopt, as there are so many children in need of a loving family. But when she was 25, she discovered that despite taking the Pill, she had fallen pregnant by her boyfriend. "I went to my doctor about having a termination, and asked if I could be sterilised at the same time. "This time it was a male doctor. He said: 'You may not want a child, but one day you may meet a man who does'. He refused to consider it. "After my abortion, I was more determined than ever to pursue sterilisation. I had my mother's support - she realised I wasn't going to grow out of my beliefs. At 27, Toni moved to Brighton, where her dream of medical intervention was realised. As Toni awaited the surgery which would destroy her fertility, she met her future husband, Ed, 38. "I liked him immediately, and I told him what I was doing because if he wanted children then he needed to know I wasn't the woman for him." "But Ed didn't want children for the same reasons."


Ed and I married in September 2002, and have a much nicer lifestyle as a result of not having children. "My only frustration is that other people are unable to accept my decision. "What I consider mad are those women who ferry their children short distances in gas-guzzling cars."

November 21, 2007 Daily Mail rw Karen Gaia says: I am not advocating that everyone remain childless. There are some people that want zero children, and some that want three. It all works out when women have choices and education.