In this article, we analyze life course scenarios leading to childlessness. The analysis is based on biographical interviews with women (aged over 50) who can certainly be characterized as childless. We identify four ideal types of childlessness: ‘bachelor’, ‘sacrificing’, ‘imposed’ and ‘hedonistic’ childlessness. ‘Bachelor’ childlessness is typical of those women who have no partner that could fulfil the role of the second parent. ‘Sacrificing’ model can be regarded as a subtype of ‘bachelor’ childlessness, but in this case childlessness has a different rationale due to the reorientation of intergenerational transfers towards the elder generation at the cost of conjugality and parenting. ‘Imposed’ childlessness refers to consent with partner’s strong decision not to have children, usually at the cost of preserving the relationship between the couple. Finally, ‘hedonistic’ childlessness can be considered as a life project focused on attaining certain social status and well-being, and/or preserving certain life-style that is incompatible with having children due to financial and time constraints. The typology of these life courses is based on two major criteria. The first is the necessary distinction between intentional and unintentional childlessness. As for the second, we also distinguish between narratives based on whether they describe individual or collective decisions about refusing or postponing parenting. A completely conscious choice of childlessness is characteristic for ‘hedonistic’ and ‘imposed’ childlessness, while in the cases of ‘bachelor’ and ‘sacrificing’ models there appears to be a delayed decision about parenting. The second criterion contrasts ‘hedonistic’ and ‘bachelor’ childlessness, on the one hand, and ‘imposed’ and ‘sacrificing’ childlessness, on the other. In the first case narrators usually present their refusal to become parents or postponing this decision as their own 202 V. Duprat-Kushtanina, S. Lutoshkina choice, while in the second (unless being a collective decision) the decision involves one or several significant others (i.e. partner or parents)