(CNN) -- Women without children like Patrice Grell Yursik, who just celebrated her 12th wedding anniversary, get the same questions all the time. "I can't even tell you how many cab drivers in Chicago, in New York, in L.A., have asked me, 'So any kids? No kids, why no kids?' It's just the way that people engage with you," said Grell Yursik, 35, of Chicago, creator of the beauty and lifestyle blog Afrobella.com. She and her husband have not decided whether they want to have children. Laurie White, a 43-year-old writer and social media manager, who has referred to herself over the years as "accidentally childless," said people always come up with solutions for what they perceive as her "problem." Patrice Grell Yursik and her husband have not made a decision about children.
"Why don't you just parent by yourself? Why don't you adopt? There are so many kids who need homes," White, of Olney, Maryland, said people tell her. "It really discounts whether or not that's something a) that I want to do and b) whether that's something that's really wise for me to do as a single person." Kitty Bradshaw, creator of an online destination covering lifestyle in Los Angeles and New York, said, "More and more guys are saying 'Oh there must be something wrong with you if you are 35 and you've never been married and you've never had kids.' "
Bradshaw, White and Grell Yursik are not alone by a long shot; 47% of women between ages 15 and 44 don't have children, according to 2010 U.S. Census Bureau data, an increase from 35% in 1976. That's a massive group comprising nearly half the women of childbearing age, and yet this demographic remains misunderstood, poorly portrayed in the media and nearly invisible to Madison Avenue, many women without children say.
