Child-free And Happy

Embracing the child-free life isn’t just a millennial fad. It is a growing trend amongst couples of all ages. Here’s a peek into the lives of seven couples who are breaking the shackles of convention.

- Meghna Panwar

A teenage rendezvous can leave an indelible imprint in the mind. For Christina Keer, 48, her visits to Mother Theresa’s Ashram during her formative years in Mumbai turned into a moment of reckoning. An insight into “how women in desperate conditions left their newborns,” profoundly impacted her, something which lingered on, prompting her to embark on her special journey. A chance meeting with Ajay Keer whilst training — they were both track and field athletes — developed into romance when she was merely 13 and he, 15. A courtship period, which lasted for 12 years, was followed by an exchange of vows in 1995. “Initially, we discussed adoption instead of having our own children. Somewhere during our courtship, my husband — now 50, and a professional photographer based out of Dubai — suggested the idea of going child-free. However, he left the decision to me. It took me less than a minute to agree. That’s probably the only decision we agreed to together,” says Keer, who works as a brand manager with a fashion company in Dubai.

The Keers represent the first generation of Indians who consciously decided against having children. Of course, there will have been hundreds of couples in the past that may have also done the same, but the Keers are from a generation that came of age in the 1990s and 2000s, with unprecedented levels of freedom of choice and action. It was a time when staying single, marrying someone of your liking and not having children were among the choices that families were increasingly more willing to accept. This fact is borne out by the most recent census figures as well.