Author/filmmaker Laura Scott embarks on the “Childless by Choice Project,” a journey of discovery to find out how and why—in the midst of a Hollywood baby boom—millions of couples in North America are choosing to remain childless. What she finds are couples who are on the fence or opting out—navigating in a society that presumes parenthood for all, and tackling issues as prickly and diverse as gender identity, voluntary sterilization, social isolation, self-determination, and the specter of regret. They are daycare workers, active and retired military careerists, teachers, environmental and human rights activists, and those who have simply decided they are definitely not parenthood material. People like Jessica who, at fifty, still feels crippled by her father’s emotional abuse, asking herself “would you want you as a mother?” With surprising candor and humor these couples reveal the motives and beliefs which lead them to challenge the assumption of parenthood as they weigh the pros and cons of a childfree life. The couples featured include two “undecided” couples in their late twenties and thirties who are torn between starting a family and remaining childless. Harpreet and Manmeet are human rights activists and filmmakers who idealize parenting the world rather than the two or three children they might have one day, yet they regularly face pressure from their Indian American community to reproduce, citing the first-born’s cultural obligation to produce an heir and their obvious love for children. Tara and Patrick are adventurers drawn to the raw beauty of the Canadian Rockies, reveling in their unconventional, off-the-beaten-track life. But Tara’s occasional longing for a child leads to a crisis of indecision, forcing them to question the validity of a maternal instinct and to consider if they have the right stuff to be the kind of parent they believe every child deserves. In their quest to be informed decision makers they seek the advice of others and ask “Can we do this? Should we have a child?” Exposed to the internal and the external pressure to procreate while they continue to cherish the freedom of their childfree lives, these couples feel the pinch of their self-imposed deadlines. Will they decide to have kids? What does that decision-making process look like? What considerations and rationales come into play as they make one of the most important decisions of their lives?