Shirley Radl and Ellen Peck founded the National Organization for Non-parents (NON) as a non-profit in California, USA.  NON declared itself an “educational organization to make the childfree lifestyle a realistic and socially accepted and respected option and to eliminate pronatalist social and economic discrimination”.

The National Organization for Non-Parents (NON) designated August 1 as “Non-Parents’ Day“. 

25-year-old teacher and author Anna Silverman and 35-year-old philanthropist Stewart Mott were selected Female and Male “Non-Parent of the Year”.

The next day, the “Non-Parent King and Queen” wore laurel leaf crowns and rode in an open top cab down 5th Avenue in New York.  They were officially crowned near the Plaza Hotel to publicly acknowledge the day.  Original New York Times Article HERE.

A grant from the Rockefeller Brothers Fund in the amount of $22,000USD went towards the organization’s national advertising campaign.

The Rockefeller Brothers Fund awarded $50,000USD “in equal amounts for two years” to help continue its mission.

The National Organization for Non-Parents (NON) renamed itself the National Alliance for Optional Parnthood (NAOP).

This rebranding shifted the focus of the organization to help people make the most informed choice about whether and when to become a parent.

Th William and Flora Foundation awarded the organization $60,000USD over two years to provide general support.

On August 1, NAOP ceased operations.  Board of Directors member Bill Ryerson and president of Population Media Center said the organization “suffered from being ahead of its time.” 

Even with the support of grants, the financial strain was too great to keep the organization going.

Internationally known childfree author and expert on the childfree choice Laura Carroll spearheaded bringing back this “Day” on August 1 of each year. She pulled together other childfree authors and bloggers to start it again as an annual recognition of amazing childfree people and their lives, and as a wonderful way to foster the acceptance of the childfree choice in today’s society. Laura reinvented the name to “International Childfree Day” and, along with a group of volunteers, selected the first “Childfree Woman of the Year” and “Childfree Man of the Year”.

The International Childfree Day website, the official Facebook Page, and @ChildfreeDay on Twitter launched this year as well.

2013 Childfree Woman of the Year: Jennifer Thorpe-Moscon  

Jennifer Thorpe-Moscon (US), as her nominator wrote, “embodies the best of the childfree  – she’s independent, passionate, loyal to her loved ones, and freedom-loving.” She’s used that freedom to do great things. Jennifer received her PhD from NYU in social psychology and wrote the book, How Geek Girls Will Rule the World, which is designed to inspire women to not be held back by patriarchal notions of what women should do with their lives and follow “their geeky dreams, whether it be computer programming or writing hard science fiction.”

2013 Childfree  Man of the Year: Théophile de Giraud

Théophile de Giraud (Belgium) is a writer, and has no children by choice for “personal, ecological and philosophical reasons. ” He has done much to expose, educate and contribute to the acceptance of the childfree choice. Theo has has organized bold events to educate people on childfree, pronatalist and population related issues. In 2012, one such event was on the streets of Paris, and sparked discussion and debate with the public. Theo has also put on events to bring together and celebrate the childfree, including “Non-Parents Feasts.”

2014 Childfree Woman of the Year: Magenta Baribeau

Magenta Baribeau (Canada), and is a documentary filmmaker. She has produced the documentary, Maman? Non merci! (roughly translated as Being a mom? No thanks! ) about Western women who are childfree by choice. In her documentary she includes stories of childfree women from Canada, France and Belgium. She wants people who are critical of this choice and who don’t understand the childfree lifestyle to see it as another valuable and productive way to live. Magenta’s  blog, maman non merci, is about the reality of Western childfree women.

2014 Childfree Man of the Year: Dann Alexander

Dann Alexander (Canada) is a freelance writer. His book, Planned Unparenthood: Creating a Life Without Procreating, broke significant ground in the childfree community as the first book about being childfree from a male perspective. He has blogged and written on childfree topics and issues, and will continue to as part of his commitment to reaching a wider global audience on the childfree lifestyle.

In 2014, the Selection Panel voted to give a Lifetime Childfree Contribution Award to a very special member of the childfree community: Marcia-Drut-Davis (US). She is a pioneer of the childfree lifestyle. In 1974, she lost the job she loved (teaching children), lost friends, and was persecuted after being interviewed on 60 Minutes about the choice to have no children. She even faced death threats and picket lines when she spoke on this topic. Her memoir, Confessions of a Childfree Woman: A Life Spent Swimming Against Mainstream, details her struggles to help younger women and men understand and make this life choice if it is right for them. Marcia has contributed much to the acceptance of the childfree choice in society today.

2015 Childfree Woman of the Year: Laura LaVoie

Laura LaVoie (US) is a writer, blogger, and event coordinator. She has been published in magazines and anthologies on the subjects of mythology and culture. She has written for TheNotMom.com, and has served as the event coordinator for the NotMom Summit, a national conference for women who are NotMoms by chance or choice. Laura is also a leader in the Tiny Home movement. She’s written an inspirational book on living in 120 Sq Ft, and presented on Tiny Homes at conferences across the US.

2015 Childfree Man of the Year: Mario Amaro

Mario Amaro (US) has dedicated his life to defending the US, has been in the Navy for ten years, and is hoping to become an officer before he retires. He is dedicated to bettering the lives that surround him. Mario has won many awards through the Navy and leads many volunteer groups focused on improving navy personals’ lives. He strives to set a good example to others when it comes to doing the job right. When he is not helping out other people, he is focusing on loving his foster pets and volunteering at the local animal shelter.

2016 Childfree Woman of the Year: Crystal Money

Crystal Money (US) is an academic researcher, instructor, and advisor at Kennesaw State University. Crystal gave a 2017 TEDx talk entitled “Southern Discomfort: Choosing Childfree,” highlighting the cultural expectations and pitfalls for Southern women. She has a passion for all things non-normative in life and appreciates being an active part of the childfree community. Crystal and her husband, Mike, live the DINK life in their weird spaceship house with their two adorable pups, Archie and Olivia.

2016 Childfree Man of the Year: Vincent Ciaccio

Vinny Ciaccio (US) is a Research and Data Quality Analyst at the Legal Aid Society, which provides legal representation for low-income New Yorkers. His postgraduate work focused on the childfree; his dissertation is on stereotypes regarding childfree persons in comparison to childless people and parents, including how those stereotypes may affect those persons in the workplace. Vincent has made television and radio appearances and featured in many newspapers and magazines to discuss the childfree.

2017 Childfree Woman of the Year: Krystal Brown

Krystal Brown (US) is a blogger, author, and singer/songwriter. She has known she did not want children since the age of sixteen. In her teens, she began writing letters to the editor on subjects of interest to the childfree, e.g., women in the workforce, the “most important job in the world” debate, women’s health and reproductive issues. Krystal  runs the blog, “Freedom in Frugality,” and is the author of the e-book, Tales from the Gutter, which chronicles her life as a young black woman growing up in Chesapeake, Virginia. Her first self-released album is entitled, “Stripped,” which has songs and lyrics that deal with how childfreedom is not socially acceptable in many circles.

2017 Childfree Man of the Year: Karim Akerma 

Karim Akerma (Germany) is a philosopher, writer and blogger. He adheres to a philosophy of non-procreation, and for many years has worked to raise the level of awareness of the ethics of having children. Karim is the author of several books and publications, and runs a website and blog that discusses topics related to not having children. His most recent book on the philosophy of non-procreation called, Antinatalismus – Ein Handbuch (translated: Antinatalism – A Manual) includes discussion and examination of childfreedom.  Karim is passionate about reducing suffering in the world.

The “Male” and “Female” categories were replaced by “Childfree Person of the
Year” and “Childfree Group of the Year“.

2018 Childfree Person of the Year: Emma Palmer

Emma Palmer (England) is an author, psychotherapist and eco-psychologist. Her book, Other than Mother: Choosing Childlessness with Life in Mind, explores the parenthood decision, and was nominated for Best Book in the 2016 Population Institute’s Global Media Awards. Following its publication, Emma set out to build bridges between the childless and childfree through workshops for those who are without children by choice, circumstance, happenstance or loss. Through her Zen practice she sees the entire universe as her child, and brings a “parental mind” of love and nurturing to all her ecological and therapeutic work. She serves as a positive role model of bringing parenting and nurturing energies for the betterment of the world.

2018 Childfree Group of the Year: Bev and Chris Franz

Bev and Chris Franz (US) hosedt the Married Without Children: Living a Childfree Marriage podcast. With an array of topics, they share their experiences and educate listeners. Bev and Chris also give voice to their listeners; they discuss emails listeners have sent to them between episodes, allowing people to have their thoughts and issues brought to the forefront. Bev and Chris help childfree listeners know that they aren’t alone, there are many different flavors of being childfree and that it’s OK to be how they are. In a public medium, they also open the door to non-childfree people. Their podcast helps anyone to think twice before making snap judgments about the childfree lifestyle.

2019 Childfree Person of the Year: Soot Liang Woo

Soot Liang Woo is the founder of Furget Me Not Sanctuary in Thailand. After working for many years as a Tax Director for Deutsche Bank Asia Pacific in Singapore, she entered early retirement and moved to Thailand. These plans soon changed after she became deeply moved by the number and plight of “soi” (Thai street) dogs she saw. She began re-homing, rehabilitating, and offering the care and attention they desperately needed in her own home. This grew to her founding the Furget Me Not Sanctuary. Soot and her team work 365 days a year to sterilize and vaccinate thousands of  street dogs and cats, and rehome many dogs and cats each year, locally and abroad. Soot makes a significant dent in the stray dog and cat overpopulation issue in her city and beyond. Soot chose to be childfree to address the human overpopulation issue.

2019 Childfree Group of the Year: Childfree India 

Childfree India‘s worldwide efforts promote the subjects of childfreedom, antinatalism, the Voluntary Human Extinction Movement (VHEMT) and Efilism. Key players include Raphael Samuel, who has appeared in news media around the world, and Pratima R Naik, a vital anti-procreative, feminist, environmental and youth rights activist. In February 2019, Raphael, Pratima and Childfree India conducted the first Childfree/Antinatalism/VHEMT/EFILism Meetup in Bangalore, India, called “Stop Making Babies” – the first event of its kind.  This historic event received international press. Childfree India has been instrumental in bringing together people from around the world who have no children for their own personal and ideological reasons.

2020 Childfree Person of the Year: Elizabeth Hintz

Elizabeth Hintz is a childfree academic who has dedicated her professional career to understanding and normalizing childfree experiences. Her research examines how society talks about childfreedom, and studies the issues which childfree people encounter in daily life, such as discussing childfreedom with others, navigating the workplace, and negotiating difficult conversations about reproduction and contraception with medical providers. Her research also highlights the benefits of childfreedom. As an advocate for the acceptance of the childfree choice in both professional and personal capacities, Elizabeth aims to promote social justice for the childfree community.

2020 Childfree Group of the Year: Overheard by Childfree Internet Community

Alex Crown and the Russian childfree internet community, Overheard by Childfree, have helped many childfree people find support in Russia. With over 60k subscribers, everyday people share feelings and ideas about being childfree and get support in tough life situations. Over the years, in the words of nominator, Stefan, Alex and this internet support group have done “so much to spread the idea that ‘childfree = normal’ in Russia!”

2021 Childfree Person of the Year: Margaret O’Connor

Margaret O’Connor lives in Ireland, and works as a counsellor, psychotherapist and lecturer. A first of its kind in Ireland, her services include ‘Are Kids For Me?’ which helps those struggling with the decision on whether or not to have children. She also hosts the podcast, Are Kids For Me?. Margaret has been featured in national media, works toward childfree people being seen more in society and wants people to respect that having children should not be a given.

2021 Childfree Group of the Year: We are Childfree

Founded by Zoe Noble, We are Childfree is an online and in-person childfree community with a mission to inspire and empower childfree people to embrace their decision and live their best childfree lives. It reaches childfree people globally through its portrait series with stories, podcast, and Instagram, Facebook and twitter and social channels. We are Childfree’s platform celebrates childfree women and gender diverse people, explores childfree experiences, and dispels the myths society holds about people who make the childfree choice.

In 2022, ICD has a chapter by founder Laura Carroll titled, “The Annual Global Childfree Event: International Childfree Day” published in the book, Childfree Across Disciplines: Academic & Activist Perspectives on Not Choosing Children, Rutgers University Press.

2022 Childfree Person of the Year: Bettina Zourli

Nomination I: Self-nomination

My name is Bettina Zourli, and I am a 30-year-old French childfree woman living in Belgium. I own and run the Instagram account @jeneveuxpasdenfant (which means I don’t want kids in French), followed by over 39,000 people. I started this account thanks to the publication of my first essay, Childfree, je ne veux pas d’enfant, a book speaking about all the arguments and negative things childfree people do hear. 

Since 2019, I have been sharing stories of childfree French-speaking people, and trying through my own page, podcasts and interviews (you can find the references on my blog) to normalize the idea that not every woman wants kids and that there’s nothing wrong about being childfree. I also speak a lot about feminisme, politics, ecology (I have a Master’s degree in Gender Studies, so I try to share my knowledge as well). I also share contacts of doctors for permanent contraception in France, as even if this is legal in our country, most doctors refuse or even lie to women (and men who’d like a vasectomy), which makes it quite difficult. I am planning on sterilization for myself in 2023. On my social media, I also share my life, things about my couple (I am married) and my daily life. My childfree work is to create a bridge between the French and English-speaking childfree communities.

Nomination II by Auroreg

What about your nominee makes the person an ideal candidate for the Childfree Person of the Year award? She’s one of the first to publish childfree content in French. She has also published feminism content.

How does the person show what an amazing childfree life can look like? She shows how it can be fullfiling to not have children!

How has the nominee helped the acceptance of the childfree choice? She ”normalises” it – it’s as valid as to want to have children. There is not a good amount of French childfree content so it’s important for people that are (only) francophone!

Find her: YouTube, jeneveuxpasdenfant on Instagram, Facebook facebook.com/jeneveuxpasdenfant  

The Childfree Connection received four nominations! Here they are:

Nomination 1 by Maria Francesca Repucci

I’m delighted to recommend Veronica and Rick for their continued work within the childfree community here in Austin, Texas through their content creation at The Childfree Connection.

I feel their routine output of high-quality content via YouTube and Instagram is tremendously important, particularly here in Austin, Texas. Texas is a considerably conservative state that applies much pressure on young women to build families and maintain the exemplary stereotype of traditional femininity. While Austin may be a bit offbeat politically from the rest of the state, the pressure to conform to that lifestyle choice is nevertheless felt here in the city.

Additionally, there is a noted influx of young professionals including in particular young women who are within their fertility years moving to the city within the past handful of years. There is significant spoken and unspoken pressure in this conservative region of the country for young woman of a certain age to marry and have children. It remains a status symbol to which young women are particularly sensitive, when most friends are newly married or expecting their first child. Veronica and Rick’s work to normalize the choice to remain childfree has been very impactful within our community and needed precisely because of this unfortunate collision of those two noteworthy factors. I know their impact has been profound at a much larger scale as well, but of course I’m speaking from my own perspective being a young woman of fertility years living in Austin, Texas. I’m very appreciative of their work and think that they are quite deserving of this award!

Nomination 2 by Caryn Leigh Posnansky

I’m nominating The Childfree Connection because they’re about community. They are here to help people who didn’t realize there’s a place to go for this kind of help. So many people are made to feel “less than” because of their choice to remain childfree and The Childfree Connection is there to make you feel whole again. Whether you’re childfree by choice forever or by circumstance whenever, they are there for you.

They don’t just use their opinions (which happen to be pretty great), they dig in and do their research, give the stats and the real facts.

My favorite part of The Childfree Connection: it’s not about bashing/hating kids or people with kids (who, in my opinion, deserve to be bashed at times), it’s just about living YOUR life, the life YOU choose, even if it’s withOUT children of your own!!!

Nomination 3 by Kristen Nolan  

I am excited to submit my nominee for the Childfree Group of the Year award, Veronica and Rick from The Childfree Connection. I believe they are the ideal candidates for this award because they are in complete alignment and integrity with the childfree lifestyle and have chosen to be vulnerable and share this with the world! They’re the real deal and helping so many young couples understand best practices for making the decision to be childfree should this be the best choice for them. 

What’s exemplary about this group’s accomplishments are that I have watched their childfree community go from zero to over 15,000 Instagram and YouTube followers in under a year! The amount of engagement and love they get from their community is off the charts and they’ve literally helped couples from all over the world to ask the tough questions and figure out if this lifestyle is a good fit for them. They help young couples know it’s okay to be different and not go with the normal family lifestyle. They’ve even created a program which guides women through this decision-making process step by step so they are confident and secure in their why. 

The group’s purpose has helped the acceptance of a childfree choice by going through common misconceptions one by one and debunking common myths about being childfree. Making these public and creating content that entertains is the best way for people to learn, grow and accept this lifestyle choice rather than shun it. Rick and Veronica are always making their community laugh and learn best ways to communicate their choice to family and friends which gives them confidence and makes them feel like they are part of a group that truly understands where they are coming from. They truly live up to the name Childfree Connection by opening up their journey and helping all who are on the path to being childfree feel acceptance and love no matter what they decide. 

Nomination 4 by TJ Jackson

Why is your nominee group an ideal candidate for the Childfree Group of the Year award?

The information provided by Veronica & Rick absolutely surpasses anything I could’ve expected. There are so many layers to the decision of becoming childfree that I’ve never been exposed to. They’ve been doing this for so long, it was easy to receive information and opinions that went deeper than the superficial reasons to consider childfree living.

What is exemplary about the group’s goals and accomplishments?

Veronica & Rick create a genuinely judgement free space and that is part of what makes them unique. With their caring nature they always offer advice/help, and I never felt like I had to hold back on my honest opinion on any end of the spectrum. Their goal is to help you feel secure in your decision of kids or no kids, always opening you to new perspectives without pushing.

How has the group’s purpose or goals helped the acceptance of childfree choice?

Before I found this amazing couple on social media, I felt like I had no outside perspectives to help my deciding process. Since finding them, I can confidently say that I want to be childfree and even feel prepared to defend my choice to anyone that questions it. I knew what I wanted but didn’t have the knowledge to back up my choice. Since being in communication with them, the concern of ‘what path am I moving towards’ has taken a backseat because they gave me confidence. Truly I was meant to come across them, and I don’t feel like I’m alone with any of my thoughts around being childfree.

Laura Carroll passed the leadership helm to Childfree Media Ltd.

“After founding and heading International Childfree Day awards and social media for 10 years, I have passed the torch to Childfree Media Ltd., who has the passion, skills & vision to take this Day into its next chapter of global awareness and celebration! Onward and upward!” — Laura Carroll

A new logo is introduced.

2023 marks the 50th year since the first trailblazing event and precursor to what would become known as International Childfree Day. This year, we created a commemorative logo to celebrate.