Basic Trope: A character (usually a female) doesn't want any kids, but is criticized for it.
- Straight: Alice is criticized by her friends and family for her decision to be childless.
- Exaggerated:
- Alice is despised by everyone in town for her choice of not wanting to have children, even by those who are childless.
- Alice's cousin Bob murders her just because she refuses to procreate.
- Alice is expected to have lots of children the moment she can get pregnant, and her refusal to do so for safety reasons or inability to support children is seen as whiny.
- Alice has a severe chronic illness and spends most of her time in bed. Her husband Charles has two jobs to pay her medical bills, and spends all his free time caring for Alice. Everyone knows this, and still goes out of their way to bash the poor couple for not having children.
- Alice is, without any sense of irony, decried by the press as being "worse than Hitler" for her decision to not have children.
- Downplayed: Alice is frowned upon by a few people for choosing not to have kids, but most don't mind.
- Justified:
- Others believe that people who don't want kids are Child Haters.
- Others believe that people who don't want kids are selfish of not wanting to "contribute" to society.
- Others believe that parenthood is meaningful and rewarding, and childfree people are missing out on the benefits.
- Others believe that Alice has an obligation to procreate and aren't really happy she's defying "societal norms".
- After the End, the world is slowly repopulating and those who do not want children are seen as selfish for not wanting to continue the human race.
- Alice is the queen. People naturally fear a Succession Crisis if she has no heir.
- Inverted:
- Alice is criticized for wanting children.
- Alice is complimented for not wanting children.
- Subverted: Alice is initially criticized for supposedly not wanting children, but it turns out she's infertile.
- Double Subverted:
- Alice was lying so people would get off her back, and is criticized once again when found out.
- People continue to criticize Alice, because infertile people can still adopt.
- Parodied: Alice comments in passing that she will not have children any time soon because she would be unable to take care of the child and support the family at the same time. Everyone hates her now.
- Zig Zagged:
- Whether Alice is criticized for not wanting to have children seems to vary from person to person.
- Alice herself seems to change her mind about whether she'd want to have kids every other week - those that don't notice or comment on her seemingly flip-flopping behavior on the topic focus instead on supporting/criticizing the stance she holds that day.
- Averted: No one criticizes Alice for choosing to not have kids.
- Enforced: "We need to make it clear raising kids is important, so let's have people criticize the childless Alice!"
- Lampshaded: "All they do is criticize me for not wanting kids. I don't get it; I should be a hero for fighting overpopulation."
- Invoked: Alice frequently mentions her decision against having kids, just to annoy everyone.
- Exploited:
- Alice joins an organization of childless people.
- Alice starts such an organization.
- Defied: Alice keeps her decision not to have kids a secret except to those that she trusts, so no one will criticize her.
- Discussed: "I expect that you're going to guilt me for not wanting kids." "No. It's your life, and therefore your choice."
- Conversed: "Why do they hate Alice for being childless? There's nothing wrong with not wanting to raise children."
- Implied: Alice, known to have a clean record and being childless, always seems to get nasty glares from other people though why is never stated.
- Deconstructed:
- Alice's relationship with her loved ones is heavily strained due to her choice of not wanting to have kids.
- Alice finally gives in to pressure, gets married and has kids. Everyone remarks about how happy she is now, but she actually resents everyone for feeling forced into. She hides these feelings behind a fake smile that her family may or may not know isn't genuine.
- Being childfree leads Alice in getting rejected by various men she's dating, with some of the men making disparaging comments about her not "fulfilling her purpose to be a Baby Factory."
- Reconstructed:
- Her loved ones realize they were in the wrong to judge her for being childless and, while reluctant about it, they learn to accept Alice's decision to not want kids, and soon their relationship is restored. If they had already pressured Alice into having kids, they lend her a hand in raising them to give her back some of her lost autonomy. Alternatively, Alice gives the child(ren) up for adoption.
- Alice meets Danny who is also childfree, and the two are happily together in spite of the protests of their respective families and society as a whole.
- Played For Laughs: Alice believes that she deserves to be criticized for not having or wanting children.
- Played For Drama:
- Alice finally gives in to the pressure, marries and has children with someone she doesn't love. She resents both him and the children for taking over her life, but must hide it behind a smile to not seem miserable to everyone around her.
- Alice gets raped by a man and as a result, she is pregnant with his child. While Alice's family is outraged by the man's crime, they also discourage Alice from getting an abortion, believing that life is sacred. They also consider it wonderful for Alice to become a mother, especially Alice's mother who always wanted her to have children. The argument brings a rift between Alice and her family, with Alice considering moving to a city far away from her family and cutting contact with them.
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