South Australians Chanelle Le Roux, Michael Catford on why they’ve embraced the child-free movement

You mean you don’t HAVE to be a parent? Find out why this Adelaide couple have no guilt about having no kids. See the video.

Adelaide woman Chanelle Le Roux loves kids and is the first to admit “it’s almost a shame I don’t want to become a mum, because I think I’d be a very good one.”

The 35-year-old and her husband Michael Catford, 36, are among a growing number of young adults choosing not to become parents, to be “childless by choice”.

The flow on from the increase in this “voluntary childlessness” or “childfreeness” is many hopeful grandparents-in-the-waiting will remain, well waiting, coining the concept of “the unspoken grief of never becoming a grandparent”.

According to a study out of the US, one in four young adults in that country now say it is not likely they will ever have children.

Meanwhile, also in the US, a little more than half of adults 50 and older had at least one grandchild in 2021, down from nearly 60 per cent in 2014.

Australian Bureau of Statistics data show the number of households without children in them grew by 300,000 in the five years to 2021.

McCrindle social researcher Ashley Fell says the child-free movement is on the rise.

“There are many factors driving this trend including economic conditions such as cost-of-living pressures and economic uncertainty, as well as financial insecurity … (many are) either postponing child rearing as well as choosing to not have children at all.”

Today, the Sunday Mail speaks to several 30-somethings who are proudly “childless by choice” while their parents also offer raw and honest insights into what it means to them to be a grandparent, or not.

‘I love kids, I just don’t want to be a mum’

Chanelle Le Roux waited for the urge to become a mum to hit – but it never did.

“I’m great with kids, I love kids, I love babysitting all my friends’ kids … I’m a very fun aunty, however, I just never had that motherly instinct or felt ‘I just can’t wait to have kids’,” the digital marketing specialist says.

Chanelle LeRoux with her beloved nephew Bodhi. Picture: Christell Eberstein

Chanelle LeRoux with her late dad Neil and mum Debbi. Picture: Christell Eberstein

“I’ve just never had that desire in me … it’s almost a shame I don’t want to become a mum, because I think I’d be a very good one.”

She and freelance copywriter partner Michael Catford, who’ve been together eight years and married in 2023, felt a sense of relief when they mutually agreed parenthood wasn’t for them.

“For us it is about having the freedom, both financially and socially, that not having kids allows … it’s nice to just have that disposable income to travel the world and do what we want, when we want,” she says.

“I know kids bring you a lot of joy but I have friends who’ve got kids and, excuse the language, it sounds like a f**cking nightmare at times … and I do like an afternoon nap.”

Chanelle says there has been a range of reactions from family and friends with her grandmother, who she shares a strong bond with, most strongly voicing disappointment she’ll miss out on motherhood.

‘Grandchildren are life’s second chances’

Debbi Le Roux is sad her daughter Chanelle won’t experience motherhood. Picture: Supplied

Debbi Le Roux, pictured with granddaughter Nala, says being a grandparent is one of life’s great blessings. Picture: Supplied

Chanelle’s Swedish-based mum Debbi Le Roux says while she respects her daughter and son-in-law’s decision, she fears they will one day regret it.

“I feel a little sad, not for myself but for them … my own children have brought me such incredible happiness and joy … I am sad she won’t get to experience this for herself with her own child,” she says.

And what of her own experience as a grandmother?

“Being a grandmother is one of the most special things to be … grandchildren are life’s ‘second chances’, a second chance at parenting without the stresses (of being) solely responsible for every facet of your child’s life,” she says.

‘My mind skips the cute baby phase and thinks long-term’

Michael Catford, with wife Chanelle LeRoux, is deterred from wanting children due to climate change concerns. Picture: Christell Eberstein

It’s “climate change and the prospect of ecosystem collapse” that most deters Michael Catford from wanting to embrace fatherhood.

Himself one of four kids, raised in regional Jamestown, he says: “When I think about having kids my mind skips the cute baby phase and thinks long term.

“Am I prepared to bring someone into a world that potentially won’t be as safe, stable, equitable or prosperous as the one I grew up in? Right now, the answer is ‘no’.”

He says he “dearly loves” his five nieces and nephews and describes his parent’s reaction to his childless-by —choice stance as “stoic acceptance”.

Michael Catford ‘dearly loves’ his nieces and nephews, including on his wife Chanelle LeRoux’s side … pictured are nephews Mali, Bodhi and baby niece Nala who live in Sweden. Picture: supplied

‘I don’t really need my own kids to experience that connection’

Schoolteacher Josh Dunn and his long-time partner Kate Marwood have opted not to have children, instead love to travel. The couple is pictured here in Deadvlei, Namibia. Picture: Supplied

Josh Dunn loves children – so much so, he’s devoted his professional life to them as a teacher, specialising in helping students with special needs.

This doesn’t mean he wants to himself be a dad.

“Me being a teacher is actually a big part of my decision making,” he says.

“I love my job and getting to spend time with kids every day but, to be honest, I find it pretty impressive that other teachers can spend all day with kids and then go home to their own … that’s heaps good of them, but not for me.”

And what of the fact his mum won’t get to be a grandmother?

“At times I have thought about it … but it’s a pretty shift to have a child, just to satisfy that,” he says.

Sandy Dunn with her only son Josh and his long-term partner Kate Marwood on an overseas holiday. Picture: Supplied

‘The older I become, the more resolved I am in this decision.’

Kate, 37, says her choice to be child-free wasn’t straightforward.

“It was Josh who initially dropped the bomb on me saying, ‘I don’t think I want to have children’, over 10 years ago when I was in my mid early 20s and we were living and working in the UK,” she says.

Childless-by-choice couple Kate Marwood and her long-term partner Josh Dunn in Indonesia earlier this year. Picture: Supplied

The couple loves the freedom not having children provides. Picture: Supplied

“I quickly realised that I was actually very okay with it – that I was at peace with it … that I never actually wanted that anyway.

“The older I become, the more resolved I am in this decision.

“I really enjoy being child free; there’ve been so many things that Josh and I have done which would not have been possible if we had children,” she says.

But she relishes, too, her role as an aunty of two.

“We spend loads of time with the kids and I really enjoy the one-on-one, private time we share … but I also like going home and sleeping for eight hours afterwards,” she laughs.

Originally published as South Australians Chanelle Le Roux, Michael Catford on why they’ve embraced the child-free movement