An Australian businesswoman has told how her decision not to have children led to a “confrontational” encounter with a stranger.
Karina Irby took to social media this week to recall how a seemingly harmless question about her wedding ring from a woman she met in public quickly took an awkward turn.
“She says, ‘Oh, I see you’re married… How old are you?'” the 34-year-old said of the encounter.
“I tell her my age and she says, ‘Oh, you’re making progress.’ So you must have kids?
“I just tell him, ‘No, no kids.’ Actually, my husband and I are not going to have kids,” she continued.
Karina Irby, 34, took to social media on Monday to share a ‘confrontational’ interaction she had with a stranger.
“I swear to God, I saw the blood drain from his face,” the swimsuit designer said.
Irby added that the woman, who had been “sipping her wine,” then leaned in and asked him what he planned to do with his life.
She listed her priorities as: “Building my business, saving money, spending money on myself, vacations and trips, sleeping and relaxing, more time with my husband and absolute freedom.”
After marrying her husband Ryan in October 2022, the couple mutually decided to keep their marriage childless.
The random woman asked Irby if she would be disappointed by his decisions in the future.
‘Who’s going to take care of you when you’re older?’ she remembered the woman asking her.
‘I would never choose to have children just to have them take care of me when I grow up. Plus, having kids doesn’t guarantee they’ll take care of you, FYI (FYI).’
“Anyway, I found the whole thing pretty confronting,” Irby added.
‘This happens to me so often you’d think I’d be used to it by now. I bother a stranger because I don’t want to have children.’
The video has since been viewed more than 23,000 times and many mothers have taken to the comments to share their own stories.
‘You are making the best decision. And I’m a mom,’ one laughed.
Another wrote: ‘I’m a mother of two and I LOVE my kids but I support him 100 per cent. It’s your choice.’
The video has since been viewed more than 23,000 times, with many mothers applauding Irby for supporting her decision not to have children.
“Sometimes I envy people who don’t have children, but mine are cute when they sleep.”
‘I love this! As a mother of six, this is great! “I don’t think we should pressure women to have babies if they don’t want to and those children suffer with an unhappy mother,” said a third.
Many childless women shared Irby’s frustrations from having been in similar situations.
‘My God, this happens to me all the time. This year I turn 35 years old. “It’s something people tell me all the time,” one wrote.
Another added: “My husband and I don’t want kids either and the amount of weird looks and same questions we get is crazy.”
“It’s very exhausting trying to explain to people that you’re not going to have children,” one woman said.
‘We have full and happy lives even if we don’t have children. Keep being yourself.’
