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PROVO — A recent article featured in TIME Magazine has generated a lot of controversy. The cover shows a couple relaxing on a beach under the headline "The Childfree Life: When having it all means not having kids". The image and article are spurring a heated debate on both social media and around the water cooler.
In Provo, two women from both sides of the issue sounded off. Alison Faulker is a stay-at-home mom with 2 children. She went to her blog to express her outrage over the article.
"If you choose not to have a family, there are definitely things you're missing out on," she said.
Faulker wrote an open letter to TIME, saying the photo on the cover is just an attempt to garner a reaction from mothers.
"It's absolutely silly that they're dangling the carrot and saying you can have it all, because you can't have it all," she said.
If you choose not to have a family, there are definitely things you're missing out on.
–Alison Faulker
Mandi Root and her husband also live in Provo. The couple has made the decision not to have children.
"If you want to have everything that society says is great, then yeah, you probably shouldn't have kids."
Root said she and her husband have faced cultural discrimination over their decision.
"The culture is based around family," she said. "If you don't have one of your own people treat you different."
The birthrate in the United States is the lowest in recorded American history. According to a pew research report, from 2007 to 2011, the fertility rate declined 9 percent.
Falkner said she feels like the article is overtly divisive and manipulative.
"They're trying to pit the two sides against each other; The childless and the mothers. It's not helpful. It's not productive. We need to drop all of it and say ‘we're women'. What does it mean to be a woman?"
You can view the full article now on TIME's website for a subscription fee or pick it up at any newsstand.
Image via Time.com
