Regret and Psychological Well-Being among Voluntarily and Involuntarily Childless Women and Mothers

Used in 2 entries

For each citing entry, the verbatim excerpt and Likelier's calculation notes (how the source's number was converted to the lifetime-probability framing) are shown below. Click through to read the full claim ledger.

1. [1] Fertility treatment vs. childlessness Decision · inaction side

   Statistic

   Among 72 middle-aged and older women, involuntarily childless women reported lower overall well-being and were more likely to have a child-related regret than voluntarily childless women; about one-third of the involuntarily childless were 'childless by choice' and reported actively accepting the childless lifestyle

   “"Group comparisons indicate that, when compared to involuntarily childless women, voluntarily childless women show higher levels of overall well-being, rate themselves as more autonomous with greater environmental mastery, and are less likely to have a child-related regret. An unexpected finding is that about one-third of women categorized by researchers as involuntarily childless indicate that they are 'childless by choice.' These women report making an active decision to accept the childless lifestyle and focus on the future, in essence exerting control over their situations."”

   Calculation notes

   Jeffries & Konnert 2002, International Journal of Aging and Human Development 54(2):89-106 (PMID 12054274; DOI 10.2190/J08N-VBVG-6PXM-0TTN), N=72. Corroborates the inaction-dominates direction: involuntarily childless women (who wanted children but did not have them) report lower well-being and more child-related regret than voluntarily childless women, while the subgroup who actively reframed as "childless by choice" exerted control and reported better adjustment. This supports the mechanism that accepting childlessness without an active alternative narrative carries higher regret, consistent with the Cusatis 2023 cohort (PMC10633954). Replaces a prior Verhaak et al. 2007 citation whose attributed excerpt and statistic could not be verified in that paper (PMID 16940360 studies women undergoing IVF, not decliners, and reports no 18-month-follow-up or alternative-planning finding).
   

   Source date: 2002-01-01 · Accessed: 2026-06-30

2. [2] Surrogacy vs. childfree Decision · inaction side

   Statistic

   Among 72 middle-aged and older women, voluntarily childless women are LESS likely than involuntarily childless women to report child-related regret; involuntarily childless women have the most child-related regret. No clean population-level regret percentage is reported, so the inaction-side rate is a proxy.

   “"This study examines regret and psychological well-being among 72 middle-aged and older women who are either voluntarily childless, involuntarily childless, or mothers. Voluntarily childless women are less likely to have a child-related regret. An unexpected finding is that about one-third of women categorized by researchers as involuntarily childless indicate that they are 'childless by choice.'"”

   Calculation notes

   Jeffries & Konnert (2002), Int J Aging Hum Dev 54(2):89–106. Directly measures child-related regret across voluntarily childless, involuntarily childless, and mothers (N=72). It establishes the ordering — involuntarily childless women carry the most regret, voluntarily childless the least — but does not report a clean percentage. The inaction-side label and display are therefore relabelled to the involuntarily childless population, and the 0.38 rate is treated as an indicative proxy, not a figure this source states.
   

   Source date: 2002-01-01 · Accessed: 2026-06-30