本研究所關懷的主題是：一、探究自願頂客族面對生育與否，做抉擇的歷程。二、探討頂客族生育與否與生命的關係及意義。三、瞭解頂客族在婚姻、家庭、工作與社會層面的處境。四、探討頂客族在進入中年後，如何規劃中、老年的生活，及對死亡的準備。 論文是採用質性研究的自我敘說、參與觀察的方法收集資料。以一位中年自願頂客族女性，敘說真實的生命故事為文本。呈現研究参與者獨特與豐厚的生命歷程，透過生命中的「受苦」和「無常」，面對抉擇，突破了傳統的生育、家庭和養老的概念，建構不同的生命意義。 根據研究所獲得的結論：一、不生育的意義大不同。二、圖像下的母女糾結，牽動著生育與否的抉擇。三、抉擇不生育承擔結果。四、不期待養兒防老，準備好自己照顧自己。 期望本研究對於現今日益少子化的社會現象中，提供女性在抉擇生育與否的生活規劃時，更多元的思維與選擇。並提出建議，作為教育層面及政府對生育及老年政策的參考。 The current study is about: how DINK decide to be childless; what being childless means to DINK; understanding what issues DINK encounter in their marriage, family, work and the society; how they plan their childless lives after middle age. Through interview and observation, the method of qualitative analysis was applied in the study. A middle age, DINK female client was interviewed and her story is the main source of the study. Her story reveals the suffering and uncertainty of life. She challenged traditional beliefs about childbearing, family and aging, as deciding to be childless. The conclusions of current study are: being childless does make a difference; mother-daughter relationship do make a difference when making the decision; there are consequences followed by the decision; DINK take care of themselves as they are getting aging. The current study aims to prove different thoughts and perspectives for whoever is in the process of deciding whether to have child. Also it can serve as valid reference for educational research and government policy makers.
