Child-free couples picnic in Montreal park
A child-free picnic was held in Montreal Saturday by people who have chosen not to have children and are reaching out to others who made the same decision.
Pierre Dubuc took part in the event at Lafontaine Park in Montreal's East End.
Dubuc and his wife Gerarda Capece made a choice not to have children eight years ago.
"I had a vasectomy and it's impossible for me to go back," Dubuc told CBC News.
He said it was a decision the couple made together.
"On a Saturday morning, she was just relaxing and watching TV, and she turned to me and said 'You know what, this would be impossible with kids, you know, having kids around'," he said.
Capece said the couple enjoys the company of children — but not all the time.
"I have nephews, I like to play with them but I also like to give them to their mother and go home, you know?," she said.
Capece says people have questioned her decision, asking her who will take care of her when she gets old, but she said she's confident her social circle will help out.
Dubuc, an IT engineer, admits with some sadness that choosing not to have children has changed his circle of friends.
"Their entire world revolves around their kids and that's how it is, and it's gonna be that way for, you know, something like two decades. It's not my choice…it was their choice," he said.
"I have to somehow be on the receiving end of this because the quality of our relationships has been affected, but that's how it is."
Dubuc said he and Capece came to the picnic because it can difficult for people who don't want to have children to meet like-minded people.
One of the event's organizers is a filmmaker shooting a documentary about adults without kids.
"A picnic and other events like it are good ways for people to hear that we exist and that the possibility of not having children exists…and we can be very happy," said Magenta Baribeau, who doesn't have children and hopes to release her film about childless adults this coming fall.
