Childless by choice

0 Comments | Philadelphia Daily News, September, 2006 | by Jenice Armstrong

BABIES MAY BE the hot new "accessory" in Hollywood, according to a cheesy celeb magazine I found myself flipping through recently. Britney Spears is having her second one with Kevin Federline. Katie Holmes and Tom Cruise are showing off their love child, Suri, on the cover of this month's Vanity Fair.

But out here in the real world, an increasing number of women are deciding to skip motherhood. I have several very good girlfriends who almost never even mention becoming mothers. We seem to talk about almost everything but that. And the one friend I had who was actively trying to get pregnant recently changed her mind. According to the latest census data, roughly 81 percent of women ages 40 to 44 have children. In 1976, that figure was 90 percent. "With a lot of people, you've...