"I don't want to have any children." Such a simple phrase, right? But, for some reason, quite a few people find it hard to understand it. There's a social stigma saying that a woman needs to become a mother at some point in her life, and if she doesn't, there must be something wrong with her. If a woman says she just doesn't want to have any children, people usually say "Oh that feeling will fade," or she'll certainly want them "when she gets older." But what if she doesn't? Will it mean that she failed somehow?

I hate to break it to all the naysayers out there, but just because a woman doesn't have any children does not mean she failed at anything. A lot of Millennials are deciding to go child-free today and they have a wide range of good reasons to make this decision. There's nothing wrong with not wanting to have kids. Every woman needs to make this decision on her own, without being pressured by her family, friends, or society in general. In fact, it's nobody else's business but her's. No one should judge or stigmatize a woman who wants to be child-free and live her own life.

Let's take a look at 20 of the most common reasons why young women don't want to have any children and try to understand—and most importantly—respect them.

20 'We Want To Live Our Own Lives'

Having children is a huge responsibility and there are people who just don't want to take that chance. Some couples enjoy spending time together so much that they don't want (and don't need) anyone else to be around. They just want to enjoy each other to the fullest. They want to sleep in on the weekends, travel all over the world, and schedule different things for themselves.

Someone can call it selfish, but it's actually just a decision any couple is entitled to make. If they like being alone together more than anything in the world, who should stop them from fulfilling their dream?

19 'My Partner Is My Family'

Dawn-Maria, 43, journalist and broadcaster from Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England, says that she doesn't want kids because she thinks that she already has a family. It's her partner.

Like other women who don't want to have kids, Maria feels the pressure on behalf of her family, friends, and the society in general. She says that when someone she meets learns that she's not a mother, they ask her why — almost suggesting that she can't have children. "I’m sick and tired of being judged by society," she shares, "people who treat me as though I’ve failed as a woman because I don’t have someone to call me ‘mum.'"

18 'We See Our Friends Struggle'

Most childless couples have friends whom have kids. Seeing them once in a while, they can understand that there are two sides to having children.

On the one side, kids are cute. They bring joy to their parents lives and it's so much fun to play and watch them grow.

But on the other side, parenting is extremely challenging. Parents struggle every day of their lives juggling kids, work, and a partnership. They strive to bring their child up into a decent person. They need to find a good school for their kids (which also means buying a home in a good school district). They need to teach their kids right from wrong. And they also need to comfort their kids in times of need.

For some, it's just too much of a struggle.

17 'We Don't Feel Like Anything Is Missing From Our Lives'

Ruth is 30 years old. She's a PR and marketing executive from West Yorkshire, England, who says she never wanted to have children. She's happy to be with her partner, feeling like she's married to her best friend. And even though some people think that family life without kids is kind of incomplete, Ruth and her significant other don’t feel like anything is missing from their lives.

"We shouldn’t feel like we need to have children, just because society thinks we should. Everyone starts to say things like ‘It won’t be long until there’s a little Ruth running around.’ As if that’s the only logical step." Ruth adds that they don't like to be pressured into having kids just because they're married either.

16 'I Don't Want My Body To Change'

Pregnancy, labor, and breastfeeding take a huge toll onto a woman's body. Few women are able to maintain their body shape after giving birth to a child. Breasts, thighs, waist, belly — everything looks different. And for some women, this is the exact reason to go child-free.

After all, it's much easier to maintain a good shape if you've never given birth to a child. And it's much harder to do it when you need to fulfill all these motherhood responsibilities. Some women don't mind it at all, but for others, it's a huge challenge and they choose not to have kids to avoid it.

15 'I Have Never Seen Myself As A Mom'

Some people are born with a motherly (or fatherly) instinct. They daydream of having kids early on in their childhood and when they grow up, they strive to get married and become a parent. However, not all people are similar. Some of us don't have these inborn parenthood feelings. Like Sofie, a copywriter and travel blogger from Belgium.

People keep on telling Sofie that this attitude will change one day and she'll want to have children. But she doesn't like this phrasing because it sounds like she has some disease that's going to be cured. And when people ask Sofie who's going to take care of her when she becomes older, she says, "I’ll take care of myself, and I don’t expect anyone else to."

14 'I Like Being On My Own'

Nowadays, women are becoming more and more independent. While feminism is on the rise, we get to believe that we're entitled to go beyond the traditional role of a woman as a mother. We learn to take pleasure from being on our own and depend on no one but ourselves.

It all means that modern women strive to do whatever they want, whenever they want, and with whomever they want. They strive to have a freedom of thoughts, freedom of movement, and freedom of choice. Women no longer want to have kids "just because." We realize today that we should give birth to children only if we really want to. Otherwise, we're free to go over the social stigma and enjoy our lives.

13 'The Planet Is Overpopulated'

Overpopulation is one of the biggest problems of today's world. Thousands of kids are being born every single day all over the world. Some of them will have to live without their parents, others will starve or have unhappy lives. Resources on our planet are limited and we all can guess what's going to happen if the birthrate remains the same.

This is what Natalia, a business strategist from London, thinks. She says, "In many respects it seems selfish to me to want to bring my own children into the world, when so many are in need." And who can argue with her? Birthrates all over the world should certainly be controlled, so what if we start controlling it ourselves?

12 'I Have So Many Life Options'

We have a myriad of options for how we want to live our lives today. If we want, we can focus on our careers and make a lot of money. We may also want to open our own business if that's our dream. It's always possible for us to get a variety of different educations and learn so many interesting things. We can also travel the world and see all 195 countries with our own eyes. Why should a woman refuse all these things just because the society wants her to fulfill the traditional role of a mother?

Due to the availability of all these options, a child may not fit the lifestyle of a modern day woman and there's absolutely nothing wrong about it.

11 'I'll Be A Bad Mom'

There are women who go child-free because they think that they're going to be bad at parenting. "Have you seen the way kids act these days?! I don't think I could handle that," one woman admitted to Women's Health.

Some of these women also had amazing mothers and they don't think that they could ever become good at being a mom. "She gave everything of herself to her children and her grandchildren," one of these women shares. "I don't feel I have the passion she did for having kids." There's nothing wrong about it. Not everyone is born with an ability to become a perfect parent. And it's actually better to realize it before you give birth to a child.

10 'My Career Is My Priority'

A lot of women decide not to have kids because they want to focus on their careers. Lizi, a social media manager and lifestyle blogger, is one of them. She says that it wasn't an overnight decision. "I’ve been pretty set on not wanting children for most of my adult life," she says, and goes on to add, "I want to throw everything into my career while I’m still young."

Apart from taking at least a year out of work, Lizi also doesn't want to become financially dependent on her partner and prefers to live by herself, without having to go to a specific location because of good schools for kids.

9 'I Have A Medical Issue And Don't Want To Pass It On A Child'

For some reason, society thinks that everyone needs to have kids — no matter what. But what if a person has a chronic mental or physical issue that is likely to be passed on to their child? Is it fair to burden a new human being with this illness, just because society says that you have to have children?

Erika, a business strategist from Montreal, is sure that it's an irresponsible step in this case and it's exactly the reason why she doesn't want to have kids. She says that passing down these genes "not only burdens the families and parents of those children, but it also continues to place a strain on the medical system."

8 'Just Because I'm A Woman, I Don't Have To Be A Mother'

There's a social stereotype saying that a girl starts dreaming of having kids from an early age. But what if she doesn't have those "motherly urges" inside of her? It's okay and it doesn't mean that something is wrong with this woman. Believe it or not, there are women who just don't like kids. "I have had multiple encounters with children throughout life and it is always an awkward and anxious experience for me," one woman told Mic. "Children always have irritated me to no end. The only time I enjoy children is when they are quiet, humble, intelligent beings. Obviously these conditions are unreasonable to expect of the tiny humans, so for me, the logical solution is to not have any of my own."

7 'Kids Are Too Costly'

For a lot of people, kids aren't financially feasible and it would be great if more parents realized this early on. In this case, the world would have far fewer kids born in poor families to parents who can't support them financially.

But some women understand that their financial situation doesn't allow them to have kids. Everything about children, from medical costs of giving birth to lifetime financial commitment to this child, costs a lot of money. "If I can hardly afford to live well now on my income, how can I be expected to give a child the life they deserve?"

6 'I Don't Want To Make A Decision I Can Never Unmake'

Let's say you buy a book and it turns out that you don't really like it. What do you do with it? You either put in on a shelf and forget that you even have it or you give it as a present to one of your friends who you think might like it.

There's no way it's possible to do something similar to a child. "I don't want to sign up for something that I will never, ever be able to back out of," one woman said to Women's Health Mag. "You have to be all-in and totally devoted, 100 percent, and sometimes I have a hard enough time taking care of myself. When I hear the saying, 'Motherhood is the hardest job in the world,' I take that seriously. And I realized I don't want the hardest job in the world. And that's okay."

5 'Pregnancy And Labor Are Too Overwhelming For Me'

While for some women the period of pregnancy is a marvelous time, for others it's a real nightmare filled with numerous challenges. Labor, on the other hand, is an incredibly strenuous physical ordeal—even in our time—and it's also potentially dangerous for a woman's health.

So there are women who realize that they don't want to undergo all these issues for the sake of bringing a child into this world. "The physical changes my body would go through with the pain of birth is not appealing at all to me," some say. "I'm completely squicked out by pregnancy and labor. Full-on body horror."

4 'I Don't Want Anyone To Depend On Me So Much'

When you're living alone or with your partner, no one's really depending on you. You can do whatever you want and make your own decisions because they won't hurt the people around you. But it becomes much harder once you have kids. When you bring a little human being into this world, it totally depends on you. From this moment on, you have to think about everything you do; from your diet choices to career decisions, always putting your child first.

Some women aren't up to this challenge. "It overwhelms me to think that there would be a tiny little person growing inside of me, depending on me to make healthy choices," they say.

3 'The World Isn't A Nice Place'

It's no secret that we live in a world full of violence. Multiple social issues, such as bullying, inequality, racism, corrupted governments, etc, keep many women from wanting to have kids. I mean, at times we don't want to live in this world ourselves. Why should we bring other human beings in here, force them to live and function in this society, and expose them to its imperfections?

"I feel we have too many issues recently with law enforcement and government that I do not feel comfortable upbringing kids into this society," one woman told Mic. It's hard to argue with this point of view.

2 'I Might Foster Or Adopt A Child One Day'

Some women decide not to have their own kids, but they still have a maternal instinct. They just don't want to add any more people to those who are already living on this planet. Instead, they want to foster or adopt a child who doesn't have parents.

Emma, who works as a presenter on talkRadio agrees with this opinion. "I love children and think that a positive happy childhood makes you a happy adult," she says. "I see so many children in this world who are having a really tough childhood through no fault of their own and I would like to give support and help to those who really need it."

1 'I Just Don't Want Kids'

Does a woman need to have a reason not to have kids? Can't it be her decision, which she doesn't have to explain? Like, for example, if someone says that they don't want to eat an apple, we don't need them to tell us why. They just don't want an apple, period.

The same goes for women who don't want to have kids. It's not really necessary to have a reasonable excuse for making this decision. "My body, my choice," kinda thing.

We all need to understand that not every woman is born to be a mother. What if she's born to become a great scientist who's going to change the world? Or a super-chef who'll make people joyful with her meals? Or what if she's meant to just be a happy human being, who can do whatever she wants?

A decision not to have kids needs to be respected. Isn't it time to remove this motherhood stigma from the society and finally accept child-free women?

References: Metro.co.uk, Huffington Post, Mic.com, Women's Health, Baby Gaga