Hospice Worker Powerfully Addresses Fears That Child-Free People Tend To Die Alone In Viral TikTok Video

One of the most hurtful things people can say to child-free individuals is that they will never have a family of their own—or worse, that they will die alone.

Redditor Polar_Bear_1962 opened up about this hurtful comment on the "Childfree" subReddit, which started a conversation among child-free Redditors about hurtful comments they'd received, building chosen families, and what it truly means to die alone.

The touching conversation, which Redditor Polar_Bear_1962 later called "a strangely beautiful, peaceful talk about death and dying," soon caught the attention of long-time hospice worker and TikToker @wearechildfree.

The TikToker shared a video of her own, reading from a script she had written, describing how people could make a huge difference in their future health and happiness by investing in the people around them.

TikToker @wearechildfree reflected:

"For two decades, I have been a professional who works with older adults; people in their 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s, even over 100."

"Multiple times in this [Reddit] post, childfree adults have expressed their fear that their future is dying alone because they have no children."

The TikToker argued that this did not have to be their future at all.

"Speaking from two decades of caring for older adults, I have worked with many child-free adults who spent their final years, months, and days of their life surrounded by a loving and caring community."

"Having a loving community around you who cares about you is more important than whether you have kids or not."

"I've served many child-free people who were doted on by a number of significant people in their lives."

"They received excellent care and had devoted advocates."

"They were doing better than the folks down the hall who did have children, five or six of them even."

The difference is not the size of the family but its quality and devotion.

"I promise: The difference is not whether you have children. The difference is whether you have a community of people who care about you and will show up for you."

The best part: Anyone can have a community like this, kids or not.

"The way to build this community is to show up for them, consistently for the next few years."

"As long as you are able, invest in people and relationships. Grow bonds of companionship and trust."

"It doesn't matter who, only that you like and trust each other."

"Isolation from people is as harmful to your long-term care as anything."

"The opposite of isolation is being connected with multiple people who you care about and who care about you."

TikToker @wearechildfree closed with a message specifically to the subReddit.

"Childfree Redditors, build your community of loving support, and you will be okay."

You can watch the video here:

Fellow TikTokers agreed with @wearechildfree's points and shared how they applied those principles in their lives.

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@wearechildfree/TikTok

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@wearechildfree/TikTok

Individuals who insist on other people having children can make life sound really bleak, but the truth of the matter is that some people are unable to have kids and others would not be more fulfilled by having them.

What's actually important is being a part of the community around us, whatever our particular community happens to look like, and finding ways to give back to it and show it love. By participating in our communities, we'll always have family.