Not our script: a narrative exploration of voluntary childlessness in Ecuador

Abstract

Voluntary childlessness, also called “childfreeness”, is not a new phenomenon, it is currently discussed in the media, and there is abundant literature on the topic available. Nonetheless, literature pertaining to Latin America is scarce compared to other regions in the world, and literature exclusive to Ecuador is not available. The present study explores and analyses voluntary childlessness in Ecuador by drawing from narrative theory and decolonial feminism. The data was produced through individual narrative interviews with nine voluntarily childless Ecuadorian women living in Ecuador, ages ranging from 25 to 49. The material emerged in the dialogical encounters between the storytellers (participants) and the listener (me-the researcher) and was analysed narratively taking into account the broader social context of Ecuador. The findings reveal how voluntary childless women in Ecuador construct their narrative identity and negotiate their social positionings while also creating counterstories that protect their identity as childfree women in a pronatalist context. The material also allowed me to discuss the status of bodily autonomy in Ecuador and to understand the social underpinnings of master narratives that conflate womanhood with motherhood. This study contributes to the growing scholarship on voluntary childlessness in Latin America.