Shropshire Star

Telford woman 'child-free by choice so I don't pass on rare genetic condition' - but trolls' taunts still hurt

A Telford woman is child-free by choice so she doesn't pass on a rare genetic condition - but says trolls tell her she can't know "true love" unless she has a child.

Plus
Published
Last updated
Sophie Power, 33, and her husband, Joe, 33

Sophie Power and her husband, Joe, both 33, decided not to have children because they would have an increased risk of developing cancer.

Sophie was born with Li Fraumeni syndrome - a rare genetic condition that increases her risk of the disease.

She has had cancer twice - surviving neuroblastoma aged five and breast cancer just last year.

Sophie, who works in PR, said: "I’ve always joked that one of the most attractive things that my now husband said when we first met was that he didn't want kids.

“We got told once that you can’t know true love until you've had your own child. It's absolutely mad the stuff some people come out with.

“It would be easier to tell them that I couldn’t have kids. It’s possible, I just don’t want them.

“If people are going to be really judgy about it then you probably don’t need that negativity in your life."