
The Baby Decision
How to Make the Most Important Choice of Your Life
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
3 months free
Buy for $15.59
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Kathleen Godwin
About this listen
“A warmly empathic, wide-ranging manual.” (Kirkus Reviews)
"This valuable unbiased book skillfully shows readers how to stop fretting over the choice and take time to make the right one." (BlueInk starred review and notable book)
Featured in The Washington Post and The New York Times.
Baby or child-free? Which will it be? Is this decision keeping you up at night? Do you feel terrified you will regret your decision? Are you paralyzed by this high-stakes choice?
Now, you can get off the fence and get on with your life. Imagine your relief when you discover the right choice and break free from obsession. Picture yourself enjoying the pleasures of parenthood or the freedom and spontaneity of living child-free.
The Baby Decision is a powerful, unbiased guidebook by a professional coach/psychotherapist who has specialized in the topic for 40 years. With wisdom, depth, and humor, Merle will help you take this overwhelming decision and break it down into a digestible sequence of five steps.
During this discovery process, you will:
- Dissolve fear and doubt, using 30 visualization exercises and thought experiments to uncover your answer
- Have deep talks with your partner, even if you disagree
- Resist pressures from family and friends and fully consider the rewards of the child-free choice
- Learn the latest on one-child families, single, LGBTQI+, and older parents' fertility and adoption
- Steal a few benefits from the opposite choice
Merle Bombardieri, MSW, LICSW, is a psychotherapist, coach, and workshop leader. Although she enjoyed raising her daughters, she has been a child-free advocate since 1978. She has contributed to Our Bodies Ourselves, The Boston Globe Magazine, Glamour, Self, and Brides and has appeared on national news, talk show, and documentaries.
Please see her author page for more information and visit her blog for free advice and resources.
Discover your personal answer to the baby question. Click “play” on the Audible sample to preview the book.
©2016 Merle A. Bombardieri (P)2019 Merle A. BombardieriPeople who viewed this also viewed...
-
So When Are You Having Kids
- The Definitive Guide for Those Who Aren’t Sure If, When, or How They Want to Become Parents
- By: Jordan Davidson
- Narrated by: Jordan Davidson
- Length: 12 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
So When Are You Having Kids? is not your parents’ parenting book, nor is it a how-to for getting pregnant. It’s a nonjudgmental, inclusive guidebook for women, men, gender-nonconforming people, same-sex couples, and prospective single parents who want to make an informed decision regarding if and how they bring children into the world. Combining research with over 100 compelling real-life stories, the resources in this book are as diverse as the generations they’re meant to serve.
-
-
Excellent comprehensive book
- By AB on 09-25-23
By: Jordan Davidson
-
Selfish, Shallow, and Self-Absorbed
- Sixteen Writers on the Decision Not to Have Kids
- By: Meghan Daum
- Narrated by: Johnny Heller, Jo Anna Perrin
- Length: 7 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
One of the main topics of cultural conversation during the last decade was the supposed "fertility crisis" and whether modern women could figure out a way to have it all - a successful, demanding career and the required 2.3 children - before their biological clocks stopped ticking. Now, however, conversation has turned to whether it's necessary to have it all (see Anne-Marie Slaughter) or, perhaps more controversial, whether children are really a requirement for a fulfilling life.
-
-
Am I the only sane childfree woman in here?
- By J. Malouin on 09-29-15
By: Meghan Daum
-
Regretting Motherhood
- A Study
- By: Orna Donath
- Narrated by: Mandy Kaplan
- Length: 6 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Women who opt not to be mothers are frequently warned that they will regret their decision later in life, yet we rarely talk about the possibility that the opposite might also be true - that women who have children might regret it. Drawing on years of research interviewing women from a variety of socioeconomic, educational, and professional backgrounds, sociologist Orna Donath treats regret as a feminist issue: as regret marks the road not taken, we need to consider whether alternative paths for women currently are blocked off.
-
-
Tough but meaningful
- By FloridaMelissa on 01-04-20
By: Orna Donath
-
To Have and to Hold
- Motherhood, Marriage, and the Modern Dilemma
- By: Molly Millwood
- Narrated by: Molly Millwood
- Length: 9 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A clinical psychologist’s exploration of the modern dilemmas women face in the wake of new motherhood. When Molly Millwood became a mother, she was fully prepared for what she would gain: an adorable baby boy; hard-won mothering skills; and a messy, chaotic, beautiful life. But what she did not expect was what she would lose: aspects of her identity, a baseline level of happiness, a general sense of well-being.
-
-
Pretty good
- By C Sandell on 03-07-21
By: Molly Millwood
-
Childfree by Choice
- The Movement Redefining Family and Creating a New Age of Independence
- By: Dr. Amy Blackstone
- Narrated by: Gabra Zackman, MacLeod Andrews
- Length: 7 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As a childfree woman, Dr. Amy Blackstone is no stranger to a wide range of negative responses when she informs people she doesn't have - nor does she want - kids: confused looks, patronizing quips, thinly veiled pity, even outright scorn and condemnation. But she is not alone in opting out when it comes to children. More people than ever are choosing to forgo parenthood, and openly discussing a choice that's still often perceived as taboo. Yet this choice, and its effects personally and culturally, are still often misunderstood.
-
-
Repetitive and not for the childfree
- By Anonymous User on 01-20-25
-
What to Expect When You’re Expecting
- By: Heidi Murkoff
- Narrated by: Heidi Murkoff, Meeghan Holaway, Emma Bing, and others
- Length: 32 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This cover-to-cover (including the cover!) new edition is filled with must-have information, advice, insight, and tips for a new generation of moms and dads. With What to Expect’s trademark warmth, empathy, and humor, it answers every conceivable question expecting parents could have, including dozens of new ones based on the ever-changing pregnancy and birthing practices and choices they face. Advice for dads is fully integrated throughout the book.
-
-
The author writes as though we are children
- By V Diploe on 11-15-20
By: Heidi Murkoff
-
So When Are You Having Kids
- The Definitive Guide for Those Who Aren’t Sure If, When, or How They Want to Become Parents
- By: Jordan Davidson
- Narrated by: Jordan Davidson
- Length: 12 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
So When Are You Having Kids? is not your parents’ parenting book, nor is it a how-to for getting pregnant. It’s a nonjudgmental, inclusive guidebook for women, men, gender-nonconforming people, same-sex couples, and prospective single parents who want to make an informed decision regarding if and how they bring children into the world. Combining research with over 100 compelling real-life stories, the resources in this book are as diverse as the generations they’re meant to serve.
-
-
Excellent comprehensive book
- By AB on 09-25-23
By: Jordan Davidson
-
Selfish, Shallow, and Self-Absorbed
- Sixteen Writers on the Decision Not to Have Kids
- By: Meghan Daum
- Narrated by: Johnny Heller, Jo Anna Perrin
- Length: 7 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
One of the main topics of cultural conversation during the last decade was the supposed "fertility crisis" and whether modern women could figure out a way to have it all - a successful, demanding career and the required 2.3 children - before their biological clocks stopped ticking. Now, however, conversation has turned to whether it's necessary to have it all (see Anne-Marie Slaughter) or, perhaps more controversial, whether children are really a requirement for a fulfilling life.
-
-
Am I the only sane childfree woman in here?
- By J. Malouin on 09-29-15
By: Meghan Daum
-
Regretting Motherhood
- A Study
- By: Orna Donath
- Narrated by: Mandy Kaplan
- Length: 6 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Women who opt not to be mothers are frequently warned that they will regret their decision later in life, yet we rarely talk about the possibility that the opposite might also be true - that women who have children might regret it. Drawing on years of research interviewing women from a variety of socioeconomic, educational, and professional backgrounds, sociologist Orna Donath treats regret as a feminist issue: as regret marks the road not taken, we need to consider whether alternative paths for women currently are blocked off.
-
-
Tough but meaningful
- By FloridaMelissa on 01-04-20
By: Orna Donath
-
To Have and to Hold
- Motherhood, Marriage, and the Modern Dilemma
- By: Molly Millwood
- Narrated by: Molly Millwood
- Length: 9 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A clinical psychologist’s exploration of the modern dilemmas women face in the wake of new motherhood. When Molly Millwood became a mother, she was fully prepared for what she would gain: an adorable baby boy; hard-won mothering skills; and a messy, chaotic, beautiful life. But what she did not expect was what she would lose: aspects of her identity, a baseline level of happiness, a general sense of well-being.
-
-
Pretty good
- By C Sandell on 03-07-21
By: Molly Millwood
-
Childfree by Choice
- The Movement Redefining Family and Creating a New Age of Independence
- By: Dr. Amy Blackstone
- Narrated by: Gabra Zackman, MacLeod Andrews
- Length: 7 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As a childfree woman, Dr. Amy Blackstone is no stranger to a wide range of negative responses when she informs people she doesn't have - nor does she want - kids: confused looks, patronizing quips, thinly veiled pity, even outright scorn and condemnation. But she is not alone in opting out when it comes to children. More people than ever are choosing to forgo parenthood, and openly discussing a choice that's still often perceived as taboo. Yet this choice, and its effects personally and culturally, are still often misunderstood.
-
-
Repetitive and not for the childfree
- By Anonymous User on 01-20-25
-
What to Expect When You’re Expecting
- By: Heidi Murkoff
- Narrated by: Heidi Murkoff, Meeghan Holaway, Emma Bing, and others
- Length: 32 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This cover-to-cover (including the cover!) new edition is filled with must-have information, advice, insight, and tips for a new generation of moms and dads. With What to Expect’s trademark warmth, empathy, and humor, it answers every conceivable question expecting parents could have, including dozens of new ones based on the ever-changing pregnancy and birthing practices and choices they face. Advice for dads is fully integrated throughout the book.
-
-
The author writes as though we are children
- By V Diploe on 11-15-20
By: Heidi Murkoff
-
Motherhood
- A Novel
- By: Sheila Heti
- Narrated by: Sheila Heti
- Length: 5 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Motherhood, Sheila Heti asks what is gained and what is lost when a woman becomes a mother, treating the most consequential decision of early adulthood with candor, originality, and humor. In her late 30s, when her friends are asking when they will become mothers, the narrator of Heti’s intimate and urgent audiobook considers whether she will do so at all. In a narrative spanning several years, casting among the influence of her peers, partner, and her duties to her forebearers, she struggles to make a wise and moral choice.
-
-
Way beyond what I expected
- By S. Anderson on 01-03-19
By: Sheila Heti
-
Expecting Better
- Why the Conventional Pregnancy Wisdom Is Wrong - and What You Really Need to Know
- By: Emily Oster
- Narrated by: Emily Oster, Jonathan Todd Ross
- Length: 9 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When award-winning economist Emily Oster was a mom-to-be herself, she evaluated the data behind the accepted rules of pregnancy, and discovered that most are often misguided and some are just flat-out wrong. Debunking myths and explaining everything from the real effects of caffeine to the surprising dangers of gardening, Expecting Better is the book for every pregnant woman who wants to enjoy a healthy and relaxed pregnancy—and the occasional glass of wine.
-
-
look up FASD before drinking while pregnant!
- By Soelle Bloom on 03-05-22
By: Emily Oster
-
The Panic Years
- Dates, Doubts, and the Mother of All Decisions
- By: Nell Frizzell
- Narrated by: Nell Frizzell
- Length: 8 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
We have descriptors for many periods of life, but there is a period of profound change that many women face, often in their late 20s to early 40s, that does not yet have a name. Nell Frizzell is calling this period of flux “the panic years", and it is often characterized by a preoccupation with one major question: Should I have a baby? Frizzell uses personal stories from her own experiences in the panic years to illuminate the larger social and cultural trends and gives voice to the uncertainty, confusion, and urgency that tends to characterize this time of life.
-
-
Great descriptions and stories
- By Ashley B on 02-26-25
By: Nell Frizzell
-
Eight Dates
- Essential Conversations for a Lifetime of Love
- By: John Gottman PhD, Julie Schwartz Gottman PhD, Doug Abrams, and others
- Narrated by: James Patrick Cronin, Julie McKay
- Length: 5 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Navigating the challenges of long-term commitment takes effort - and it just got simpler, with this empowering, step-by-step guide to communicating about the things that matter most to you and your partner. Drawing on 40 years of research from their world-famous Love Lab, Dr. John Gottman and Dr. Julie Schwartz Gottman invite couples on eight fun, easy, and profoundly rewarding dates, each one focused on a make-or-break issue: trust, conflict, sex, money, family, adventure, spirituality, and dreams.
-
-
What the F. Robot-reader???!?!?!
- By Anonymous User on 01-21-20
By: John Gottman PhD, and others
-
Bringing Up Bébé
- One American Mother Discovers the Wisdom of French Parenting
- By: Pamela Druckerman
- Narrated by: Abby Craden
- Length: 9 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The secret behind France's astonishingly well-behaved children is here. When American journalist Pamela Druckerman has a baby in Paris, she doesn't aspire to become a "French parent". French parenting isn't a known thing, like French fashion or French cheese. Even French parents themselves insist they aren't doing anything special. But French children are far better behaved and more in command of themselves than American kids....
-
-
Inspiring
- By Em on 04-15-12
-
How Not to Hate Your Husband After Kids
- By: Jancee Dunn
- Narrated by: Jancee Dunn
- Length: 7 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
How Not to Hate Your Husband After Kids tackles the last taboo subject of parenthood: the startling, white-hot fury that new (and not-so-new) mothers often have for their mates. After Jancee Dunn had her baby, she found that she was doing virtually all the household chores, even though she and her husband worked equal hours. She asked herself: How did I become the 'expert' at changing a diaper?
-
-
Not quite what I was hoping for.
- By Oldschoolreasons on 04-25-19
By: Jancee Dunn
Amazing! Excellent read, very helpful
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Finally!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Helpful
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Extremely helpful
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
insightful guide for most important decision
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Actually helped me get SO much clarity and made me feel confident in my decision.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Instrumental in making this decision
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Gold knowledge
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Waste of time - we just went ahead and had a baby
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.