I'm a happily child-free best-selling author... so why does society still regard me as a failure for not being a mother in my 40s?

EXCLUSIVE I'm a happily child-free best-selling author...

so why does society still regard me as a failure for not being a mother in my 40s? By Marianne Power Published: 20:57 EDT, 12 August 2024 | Updated: 20:57 EDT, 12 August 2024 e-mail As a writer, I've done so much in the name of self-improvement. I've modelled naked, jumped out of a plane, attended tantric sex retreats and even planned my own funeral. I've had moments of enlightenment and bliss.

Epiphanies and crises. Yet as I turned 40, I was a failure by society's standards. Why? Because I was single and I didn't have children.

I remember flying back from Europe where I'd been promoting my first book – which had been translated into 25 languages and snapped up by a TV company – only to be quizzed by the Uber driver. 'You have children?' He asked. 'No,' I said.

Marianne Power says that as she turned 40, she was a failure by society's standards. Why? Because she was single and didn't have children 'How old are you?' He replied. 'Forty,' I answered.

He looked surprised: 'I thought you were young – but you are not! Why no children? You must have children! I have children, they look after me, they buy me presents.' And just before I could mount a defence of my life choices, he pulled up at my flat and told me to get out quickly, leaving me literally and metaphorically on the kerb. A woman's greatest achievements are still considered to be partnership and children.

I might have travelled the world, written a best-sell.