Odd? Not us, say the women who don't want to be mums.
A HUSBAND and 2.4 children - that image of what the average woman dreams of is so strong they even made a sitcom about it. Becoming a parent is viewed as such a natural step in life that those who don't conform are regarded as a little abnormal. But today increasing numbers of women are bucking tradition and opting to remain childless.
Their decision means they are free to live life for themselves. However, it involves taking a brave stand, according to Sue Dyson, author of The Option Of Parenthood.
"Deciding not to have children can be traumatic," says Sue. "You may have a problem coming to terms with your decision, but other people may find it downright incomprehensible."
One woman who is determined to remain childless is 46-year-old Londoner Sue Bolton.
"I suspect maternal feelings are instinctive in women, but for me they have certainly never been overwhelming," says Sue, who works in advertising.
Part of a big family, Sue is surrounded by sisters, brothers, nephews and nieces - which may partly explain why she feels no need for kids of her own.
In her twenties she was too busy having fun to think about a family. And when she got involved with a married man in her thirties she realised she was much better off without children.
"I'm sure I was attracted to him because I wanted all the passion but none of the responsibilities or commitment of a relationship," says Sue. "I've never been in a relationship which has been conducive to having children and I don't want to be a single mum, both for emotional and financial reasons."
Sue's old school friends from Maidenhead, Berks - who are all married with children - regard her as a bit of freak. "They probably think I'm after their husbands," she says.
"Children enclose your life, which for some people is a good thing because they're the kind of people who need parameters. But the older I get, the more certain I become that I don't want those restrictions."
Sue Dyson says it is wrong to accuse childless women of being selfish. "What with overpopulation and the rise of the green movement, not having children would actually seem a rather unselfish thing to do," she says.
Child psychologist Dorothy Stein, who is also a mother, believes many women who do decide to have children do it for the wrong reasons. The desire for control is a common motivation, she says. "Many women have problems controlling their own lives and these women often have children as an alternative," says Dorothy. "Also, women have children because they're a guarantee of unconditional, obligatory love."
FROM the moment they got together, more than 20 years ago, friends have been asking Jane and Simon Phillips when they were going to have kids.
"I could see how it was restricting my brother's life and I knew having children wasn't for me," says Simon. "At first people said 'Just wait, you'll soon feel differently.' But I never have."
Jane and Simon, self-employed builders from Suffolk, occasionally come across people who assume that they can't have children rather than don't want them.
"At first they'll approach the subject cautiously," says 46-year-old Jane. "But once they realise that it's our choice, they take the attitude that we're being selfish."
Simon, 48, was the one who always didn't want children - Jane didn't have strong feelings either way. But he admits that when he married her he was prepared for a maternal awakening, in which case he would have agreed to fatherhood . . . reluctantly.
"It wasn't until two years after we were married that we had our first serious conversation about children," recalls Simon. "I remember saying 'I don't want them because they're too much like hard work and anyway I don't like babies'."
Jane agreed and when the Pill started causing her problems the couple decided one of them should be sterilised. They seem to have arrived at the decision effortlessly and can talk about the subject without emotion. "It wasn't a painful decision to make because neither of us felt in the least bit ambivalent about it," says Jane.
"But Simon felt that since he was the motivation behind us remaining childless it was up to him to have a vasectomy." Simon also viewed the subject with unusual realism, accepting that the marriage might one day fall apart in which case Jane should be free to change her mind.
But two decades later their marriage is as solid as ever and neither of them has had a moment's regret. Both believe that they have a good relationship because their time has never been hijacked by children.
Jane does admit to occasionally becoming tearful at the sound of a child laughing or crying but rather than a feeling of having missed out, she believes it to be the "sentimental reaction" of a warm-hearted woman.
PERSONALITIES who join Sue Bolton in not wanting children include Toyah Willcox, 35, who announced in 1992 that she had been sterilised. Despite this, people persist in asking her if she wants to have children. "Just for something to say, I'll tell them 'one day'," she says. But much to her relief, she has discovered that she's too old even to adopt.
Actress Bo Derek, 37, says that a woman doesn't need to have a baby to be fulfilled, and needs to be convinced that a child of a celebrity could have a normal life before she would consider becoming a mum.
Supermodel Lauren Hutton, 50, says she could never stay in a relationship long enough for children to be a possibility.
And the former lead singer of Blondie, Deborah Harry, 48, prefers the company of her dog to the prospect of children.
Meanwhile, Labour MP Clare Short, 47, and television reporter Kate Adie, 47, chose to put their careers first.
