National Alliance for Optional Parenthood
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The National Organization for Non-Parents (N.O.N.) was begun in Palo Alto, CA by Ellen Peck and Shirley Radl in 1972. N.O.N was formed to advance the notion that men and women could choose not to have children--to be childfree. Changing its name to The National Alliance for Optional Parenthood, it continued into the early 1980s both as a support group for those making the decision to be childfree and an advocacy group fighting pronatalism (attitudes/advertising/etc. promoting or glorifying parenthood). According to its bylaws, the purpose of the National Alliance for Optional Parenthood was to educate the public on non-parenthood as a valid lifestyle option, support those who choose not to have children, promote awareness of the overpopulation problem, and assist other groups that advanced the goals of the organization.
N.O.N.'s offices were located in Reisterstown, MD; then Baltimore, MD; and, ultimately, in Washington, D.C.
The organization's most widely-distributed publication was "Am I Parent Material?" This publication is still in print and distributed by ETR Associates in Scotts Valley, CA.
NON designated August 1 as Non-Parents' Day.
Some of the early works on non-parenthood/being childfree include:
- "The Baby Trap" 1971 by Ellen Peck and William Granzig
- "Mother's Day is Over" 1973 by Shirley Radl
- "Pronatalism: The Myth of Mom and Apple Pie" 1974 by Ellen Peck and Judith Senderowitz
- "A Baby Maybe" 1975 by Elizabeth Whelan
- "Childless by Choice" 1975 by Jean Veevers
- "The Parent Test" 1978 by Ellen Peck and William Granzig
