“We’re expecting!” 

Instead of sparking joy, this jubilant news shared by my close friends earlier this year made my heart sink. While I care deeply about my friends and their happiness, they’re also the latest in a string of loved ones who are starting families, leaving the city and making children the centre of their lives. Child-free by choice, the number of my friends who still have the time and energy to devote to friendships appears to be diminishing on the daily – and it’s tough.

I’m not alone in this, either. A 2021 study by the Pew Research Center of nearly 10,000 respondents found that 44% of non-parents aged between 18 and 49 said they were unlikely to have children, with two thirds citing the freedom associated with this as cause for happiness. Conversely, it isn’t just parenthood that can have this effect on friendships: everything from relocating to different cities – or even countries – for work or romantic relationships to surpassing your friends’ earnings can sound the death knell for once good friends or, at the very least, make it harder to stay close.