🎙️ “Why ARE You Having Children?” Poppy Reid on Choosing a Creative Life Instead

🖋️ A word from our editor…

I’ve worked with Poppy for close to a year now. She’s been at the heart of Curious Media since day one. So much of what we’ve built has been shaped by her energy, her passion, and the way she holds both the creative vision and the details that bring it to life.

She’s also someone I deeply respect. Not just for her career, which speaks for itself, but for the way she approaches things with clarity and care. She’s thoughtful in how she works and how she makes decisions.

I’m a dad. And like a lot of parents working in creative industries, I’ve felt that quiet tension between wanting to give everything to the work and knowing there are other things that come first. So when Poppy said she never wanted children, and explained why with such calm certainty, I understood it. Not because I’ve made the same choice, but because I know what it means to build a life with intention.

This conversation isn’t about who’s right or wrong. It’s about knowing yourself, trusting that, and making space for all kinds of lives to be valid. I think that’s what makes it so compelling.

— Hao Nguyen, Editor

The question has gone from, “why aren’t you having children” to “why are you having children?”

When Poppy Reid joined Amy and Jono on No Business Being A Castano, she came ready to talk about more than just work.

Poppy Reid is an award-winning journalist and presenter, and the Co-Founder of Curious Media (producer of this podcast). She previously led The Brag Media, where she launched Rolling Stone and Variety across Australia and New Zealand, before selling the business in 2024. 

But in this conversation, the focus wasn’t on her career. It was on something more personal: her decision not to have children.

“When I was a kid, I never wanted kids,” she said. “I never played mummys and daddies or had dolls that were babies or anything like that. I’ve just never been interested in it.”

Poppy shared that she spent years waiting to see if a maternal instinct might kick in. It never did. Instead, she was met with resistance from others.

“I remember growing up and a really close loved one called me selfish because she was like, I can’t believe you’re not continuing your bloodline and your legacy and that kind of stuff.”

Friends often told her she’d change her mind. Dating made things even trickier. “I remember having on my dating profile that I don’t want children and guys literally just not reading my profile and just swiping right anyway.”

But over time, she realised she was far from alone.

“I read this stat that over 70% of people 30 plus are choosing not to have children. And so I think the question has gone from: why aren’t you having children to why are you having children?”

When she met her now-fiancé Doron, the question of children came up early.

“I was what they call turbo dating,” Poppy said. “So I was on multiple dates every single week. I was really trying to play the numbers game... I was ready for my next serious relationship.”

She forgot to pre-vet Doron about kids before their first date, but asked him in person.

“I said to him, I don't want children. I don’t know if you saw that on my profile. And he’s like, no, I didn’t actually see it. That doesn’t bother me.”

Eventually, Doron confirmed he didn’t want kids either. “We are on the same path. And we’re going to have an amazing, adventurous life together instead.”

Still, she acknowledged that life and people can change.

“I would rather have a beautiful relationship with Doron that ends in heartache because he wants something that I cannot give him, than not have that beautiful relationship,” she said. “And also the relationship could possibly knock on wood… end for so many other horrible reasons.”

For Poppy, the decision not to become a parent is deeply personal, but not rooted in avoidance.

“I have so many incredible mothers in my life, like my sister, my own mother. I just think they’re super mums,” she said. “For me personally though, I go all in on everything that I do. And I know that if I became a mum, I would give it my absolute all. But I don’t like to do things by halves, so I want to choose a creative life as opposed to being a mum.”

She added, “I would much rather get to near the end of my life and have this huge regret for not having children — which statistically I won’t, by the way, a lot of people that don’t have kids don’t regret it — than have a child and regret it.”

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