I choose to be childfree because there's not enough support for mothers

Coralie will never have children.

Not because she doesn't like them, the 32-year-old from Melbourne explains, but because there is not enough support for mothers.

"I don't want to sacrifice my life to children because I know I would be mostly alone in that," she says.

"I already see the lack of consideration I receive as a woman in society, let alone in the unpaid role of mother."

While Coralie has never desired children of her own, she's passionate about helping women who have.

Sick of seeing the mums in her life "expected to do it all", she tries to lessen their burden by offering to do things like household chores.

As a counsellor, she works with clients who are experiencing parental burnout.

Coralie (whose surname has been withheld for privacy) believes it's up to all of us to support mothers, and we spoke to her about why.

These are her words.

And before we dive in, ABC Everyday would like to acknowledge those who would have liked to have children but couldn't, or are currently working through infertility.

The pressure on mothers

I don't hate kids, it's quite the opposite.

But I am very aware that kids need love, attention, play time, et cetera to thrive.

And our society just does not allow parents the space to do that.

Nor are there people to support parents so that kids feel a sense of community looking after them.

As I see my friends having kids and their relationships suffering, I realise this is another reason why I would never want to have a kid.

I'm happily married to my husband, but still, I feel motherhood would be a mostly lonely journey for me.

I hate it when people show me a picture of a baby and ask, "How can you not want one of these?"

Because I don't see a cute baby — I see a responsibility. One I would most likely carry alone.

The village is gone

I'm French and there's more and more talks in France about "regretting motherhood".

But really, most of the women who share their stories don't really regret having kids, but resent having kids in a society where they are left on their own to look after them.

I don't believe it's women's fault when they find motherhood hard. They are caught up in the system where often they are expected to do everything.

And I see mums who don't dare ask for help, because they feel guilty for doing so, or don't feel like they can.

Recently one of my counselling clients apologised for getting angry about the reality of her motherhood role — working full time and still doing everything else.

I said, "Get angry! But not at yourself, get angry at society."

I really feel counselling is so needed now because our sense of community is gone.

It used to be that people would feel connected at church, community halls, or growing up in a small town or tight-knit communities. Now we don't even know our neighbours.

Parents are more isolated and there is parental burnout.

Our duty to help each other

I am very present in my friends' lives and often offer to help with things like laundry.

I will gladly do it because we have a duty to help each other — and that includes parents.

I'm in a few child-free groups on Facebook, and I'm grateful for the sense of belonging they provide.

But there can sometimes be a child-hating narrative there — and to be honest I fell into that for a while.

I live with chronic pain, which is often not afforded the same considerations — say, in the workplace — that parenting is.

But I'm consciously shifting my thinking to realise it's society that is the problem — the reason there is no support for people. It's not parents' fault my chronic pain is not recognised.

We should all support each other.

When there is a child crying on the plane, we should be smiling at the mother instead of looking at her like "ergh".

People often say I'd be a great mum. I'm always told I'm mummying people.And yes, I'm sure I would, because I would want them to feel all the love and attention, and be the centre of my world.

And that's why I don't want to have any, because this world just doesn't allow for that.

I would rather focus on my counselling role and help as many women as I can.