When you don’t have kids, life unfolds quite differently than it does for parents. Portland author Kate Kaufmann’s Do You Have Kids? Life When the Answer is No is a savvy and validating guide to what might be in store for growing numbers of childfree and childless adults worldwide. Weaving together stories from women aged twenty-four to ninety-one, including her own story, and findings from a growing body of research, Kate brings to light alternate routes to lives of meaning, connection, and joy.
In conversation with Lopez resident and author Iris Graville, Kate will talk about how not having children impacts life—from careers, friendship, and family to what we leave behind when we die. We’ll broach what can be a sensitive, sometimes charged topic in a respectful, frank, and revealing way. Includes a short reading and audience Q & A. Open to all—childless and childfree women and men, parents, and grandparents.
Kate’s book will be available for purchase at a discount after the discussion.
Kate Kaufmann embarked on her life as a non-mom when she abandoned fertility treatments, quit her corporate job, and moved from the suburbs to a rural community to raise sheep. Since 2012, she has talked with hundreds of women and advocates for better understanding of the childless/childfree demographic. Kate received an MFA in creative writing in 2016 from the Northwest Institute of Literary Arts and has a professional background in corporate staffing, training, and consulting. She’s lived in various urban, suburban, rural, and coastal communities and currently calls Portland, Oregon home. Her writing has appeared most recently in Conscious Connection, GirlTalk HQ, and the Washington Post. Visit her at www.katekaufmann.com.