Mum's Not the Word

Mum's Not the Word is a photobook about women without children. The nude images challenge the negative attitudes within society towards people without children, and the text shares stories of birth control, choice, freedom, regret, and pain. Women are expected to provide reasons for not having children, and yet deciding to have them does not require justification. Mum's not the word debates the social stigmatization of women, who, by choice, circumstance or whatever reasons, go against the instinct for childbirth and maternal productivity. Fifty colour images show real nude women in the reverse fetal position. The subjects come from all walks of life - professionals, artists. A few have mental health issues or disabilities; some have fragile relationships with their birth mothers. A couple of the participants also identify as other than heterosexual.