In 1974, Marcia Drut-Davis appeared on TV news show 60 Minutes, explaining to her in-laws and the American public watching that she’d decided not to have children. The backlash was swift and severe: Marcia lost her job as a teacher, had her life threatened (and her dog’s!) and faced judgment from pro-natalists and even some in the childfree community. For 46 years, she’s been fighting to show the world, and childfree people ourselves, that we are valuable, that our choices are valid, and that can be as loving and nurturing as any mother. It was a privilege to look back on a life well-lived with a true childfree icon who blazed a trail for the rest of us.

Follow Marcia on Instagram @childfree_guru, join her Facebook group Confessions of Childfree People, and read her books Confessions of a Childfree Woman (2013) and What?! You Don’t Want Children? (2020).

Read the book that started it all for Marcia, The Baby Trap (1971) by Ellen Peck.

Watch part of Marcia’s 60 Minutes interview on the wonderful documentary To Kid Or Not To Kid (2018) And support another doco,  currently in development and also featuring Marcia, My So-Called Selfish Life.

Read more stories of childfree women and gender diverse people at wearechildfree.com

And follow We are Childfree on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook 🖤