For Marianne Miller, 32, watching other kids play with baby dolls during her childhood was the first time she realized she never wanted to have children of her own.
"I could always see child rearing was a choice, and I knew immediately it was a choice I wanted to opt out of," Miller said.
Today, Miller is married and works as a voice actress in Los Angeles. She isn't alone in leading a "childfree" life. America's fertility rate steadily declined between 2014 and 2017, and 2017 marked the lowest rate in over 30 years, with 60.3 births per 1,000 women aged 15-44, according to the most recent data by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
In a 2018 poll from Morning Consult for The New York Times of nearly 2,000 people ages 20 to 45, 36 percent of survey respondents who did not want children or were not sure about becoming parents said they wanted more leisure time. Thirty-four percent said they haven't found a partner to raise children with, and 31 percent can't afford childcare.
That means thousands of American women are turning their back on parenthood for reasons ranging from financial stability to lifestyle. Here's what you need to know about this growing trend.
Mikaela Fleisher, 31, who lives in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, said motherhood never felt natural.
"Just because society tells us that we should grow up, get married and have children does not mean that it's the right thing for everyone to do," Fleisher said.