To Kid Or Not To Kid | Maxine Trump

Is motherhood an essential part of womanhood? Filmmaker Maxine Trump joins us to discuss the enduringly strong pronatalist pressures in her documentary film, To Kid or Not to Kid. It might surprise you how much societal pressure remains today for women to have children. Mothers hope for, and some pressure their children to give them) grandchildren. Friends ask newlyweds when they’re going to “start a family” (aren’t the newlyweds already a family?). Even the attitudes of some medical professionals can lack sophistication. Some couples make the decision to have children as an automatic default – just the next step in life. Maxine Trump gave this decision much more careful and thorough consideration. She documents this in her new film, To Kid or Not to Kid. The filmmaker shares her thoughts and observations on the subject with the World Population Balance team. See episode website for show notes, links, and transcript: https://www.populationbalance.org/podcast/maxine-trump   ABOUT US OVERSHOOT | Shrink Toward Abundance [Formerly The Overpopulation Podcast] OVERSHOOT tackles today’s interlocked social and ecological crises driven by humanity’s excessive population and consumption. The podcast explores needed narrative, behavioral, and system shifts for recreating human life in balance with all life on Earth. With expert guests from wide-ranging disciplines, we examine the forces underlying overshoot: from patriarchal pronatalism that is fueling overpopulation, to growth-biased economic systems that lead to consumerism and social injustice, to the dominant worldview of human supremacy that subjugates animals and nature. Our vision of shrinking toward abundance inspires us to seek pathways of transformation that go beyond technological fixes toward a new humanity that honors our interconnectedness with all beings.  Hosted by Nandita Bajaj and Alan Ware. Brought to you by Population Balance.  *Episodes from 2016-2021 were hosted by former executive director Dave Gardner and later with co-host Erika Arias, and then with co-host Nandita Bajaj. Learn more at populationbalance.org Copyright 2025 Population Balance