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'I always wanted to have children. The earth might be in trouble—overpopulated, descending into ecological crisis—but I was always sure my kids would help make the world a better place. I would be a green-feminist supermum, having it all. Nothing turned out the way I expected.
'Like many women, Sian Prior arrived at the point where she was ready to start having babies—and found they were not hers to have. Three miscarriages with a supportive partner; a new partner who already had all the children he wanted; step-children; step-grandchildren; the decision to parent solo, followed by many rounds of fertility treatments.
'After all this Sian found herself, at fifty, childless and coming to terms. Weighing up the freedoms against the losses. Dealing with the unacknowledged legacy of her own lost father. Observing parenthood itself—how we succeed at it and how we fail—from a perspective outside the trenches.
'Compelling, moving, beautifully written and unexpectedly uplifting, Childless is her story.' (Publication summary)
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Works about this Work
-
Harmony of Light and Shade
2022
single work
review
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 9 April 2022; (p. 17)
— Review of Childless : A Story of Freedom and Longing 2022 single work autobiography -
Anger, Grief and Gradual Insight in Sian Prior’s Memoir Childless
2022
single work
review
— Appears in: The Conversation , 4 April 2022;
— Review of Childless : A Story of Freedom and Longing 2022 single work autobiography'There are six of us: high school and university friends I have stayed in close touch with over the years; we are all in our mid-40s now. We are nurses, social workers, educators, writers, massage therapists and political activists. We are past the ideal childbearing years. Three of us had children and the other three did not.' (Introduction)
-
Sian Prior Childless : A Story of Freedom and Longing
2022
single work
review
— Appears in: The Saturday Paper , 26 March - 1 April 2022;
— Review of Childless : A Story of Freedom and Longing 2022 single work autobiography'Sian Prior’s second memoir deals with her unexpected childlessness, reflecting on the “terrible freedom” and longings wrought by a life she didn’t choose.'
-
Sian Prior Childless : A Story of Freedom and Longing
2022
single work
review
— Appears in: The Saturday Paper , 26 March - 1 April 2022;
— Review of Childless : A Story of Freedom and Longing 2022 single work autobiography'Sian Prior’s second memoir deals with her unexpected childlessness, reflecting on the “terrible freedom” and longings wrought by a life she didn’t choose.'
-
Anger, Grief and Gradual Insight in Sian Prior’s Memoir Childless
2022
single work
review
— Appears in: The Conversation , 4 April 2022;
— Review of Childless : A Story of Freedom and Longing 2022 single work autobiography'There are six of us: high school and university friends I have stayed in close touch with over the years; we are all in our mid-40s now. We are nurses, social workers, educators, writers, massage therapists and political activists. We are past the ideal childbearing years. Three of us had children and the other three did not.' (Introduction)
-
Harmony of Light and Shade
2022
single work
review
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 9 April 2022; (p. 17)
— Review of Childless : A Story of Freedom and Longing 2022 single work autobiography
Awards
- 2022 shortlisted The Age Book of the Year Award — Non-Fiction Prize