Tracee Ellis Ross On Being Single And Child-Free

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16-05-2025

While it would be nice to live in a world where people didn't have to justify their life choices when they go against societal norms, the sad reality is that a woman's decision to remain single and child-free is often met with pushback and scrutiny. And that's why it's so important to have women like Tracee Ellis Ross publicly speaking out against the negative rhetoric.
Tracee is now 52, and has never married or had kids — something she has discussed at length over the years. For example, during a Glamour event back in 2017, the star reflected on how people tell her that she should have kids to give her life 'meaning,' despite the fact she already has a pretty 'incredible' and accomplished life.
"I have built an incredible life. I have become a woman that I am proud to be,' Tracee said at the time. 'And then someone tells me about their friend who adopted a child at 52 and how 'it's never too late for your life to have meaning,' and my worth gets diminished as I am reminded that I have 'failed' on the marriage and carriage counts.'
And last year, Tracee went viral when she delivered an empowering speech at Kamala Harris's Unite for America rally shortly after J.D. Vance's 2021 comments about the 'childless left' being responsible for America's problems resurfaced online.
Vance went even further in the interview with Tucker Carlson, where he ranted about 'childless cat ladies who are miserable at their own lives and the choices that they've made, and so they want to make the rest of the country miserable, too." At the rally, Kamala sat down for an interview with Oprah Winfrey, and Tracee kicked off her appearance by thanking the pair for what they 'represent' as two child-free women. "Because, as a childless woman, I wanna say to the people who think a woman's worth is measured in her baby count — I mean, shoutout to all the amazing mothers — but childless women have been mothering the world and elevating the world as aunties, godmothers, teachers, mentors, sisters, and friends," Tracee added. "The list goes on. You do not have to push out a baby to help push humanity forward!"
And Tracee doubled down on this during a recent appearance at the New York Times Well Festival, where she hit back at the idea that a child-free person's life is less 'worthy' than a parent's.
"I do not believe that my life is unworthy because I don't have children,' Tracee begins in a video from the event. 'I do not believe that my life is unworthy because I do not have a man or partner. I do believe that I mother all over the place. I do believe that I do very valued things in the world and for people that I care about and love.'
'I take out the garbage, I make my bed, I'm pretty kind to people, I do what is asked of me and what I ask of myself, and I am accountable,' she goes on. 'So I think I must be worthy of love and a life, even if society says I haven't checked those boxes.'
Needless to say, Tracee's comments were incredibly well received, and they also sparked an important conversation about how wild it is that women even need to defend their life choices in this way.
'Sad how she (and other women) have to justify why they don't have kids,' one person wrote on a Reddit forum. 'Let people live their lives. There are plenty of other people who have kids. Whether those people should or not is something is a completely different topic altogether.''I agree. I think that is an important message to spread. As you age you feel internal and external pressure to be married and have kids,' somebody else added. 'In some workplaces, your time isn't seen as values because you are not going home to anyone. Its wild.'honestly… I think a lot of people (certainly not everyone, to be clear!!) have kids because they just don't know how they'd occupy themselves and feel fulfilled otherwise,' somebody else observed. 'And I kind of like the idea of challenging myself to find meaning and purpose outside of that.''This really struck a chord with me, and I'm so grateful to Tracie for defending her status so eloquently,' another user, who identified as a 'childless single woman' wrote. 'I can't tell you how devalued I feel by society at large. I don't even enjoy attending the annual Easter Potluck or Friends Thanksgiving of the friends I had made in my 20s, because now the events are all about children. Which is great for them! But just because I didn't have the opportunity to become a mother, it doesn't mean that I don't still desire connection in my own right.'One more quipped: 'Marriage and kids aren't for everyone. The only reason why people judge it is because they're jealous.'While somebody else concluded: 'Choosing yourself unapologetically is a power move.'
Have you made the choice to be child-free? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!