In age where it's all about baby, the childfree are fighting back

"These people are looking for ways to express themselves," says Shawne, "and what better way than to talk about their children?"

But because the Gen Xers are all grown up, that talking -- or rather, the showing and telling -- is different. Owing to a youth spent staring goggle-eyed at televisions broadcasting the sarcasm of David Letterman and the relentless irony of shows like VH1's "I Love the'80s," today's modern parents are all about proper packaging. And that means everything has to be hip.

Snapsuits are sassy and say "I'm Not a Boy." Nurseries are stylish, have luxe linens, and as Lily Kanter of Mill Valley's

Serena & Lily baby boutique says in this month's San Francisco magazine, "with no cartoon characters on the wall." Even baby blogs, where discussion can devolve into the nuances of a proper poop, insist that having baby has not moved Mom and Dad one step closer to the grave.

"You still rock!" says one. "Life doesn't have to end when you buy a minivan."

"There's a lot of consumerism around children, a lot of products, a lot of effort going into this to show that they're still cool, even though they have a baby," says Shawne, 32. "This is a generation that doesn't want to be like their parents. They're saying, 'We're not becoming boring people.' But they actually are. They're just blogging about it now."

And that's the climate that's cultivated the baby backlash. The global warming of adulthood, the hot topic of everything baby has gotten the childfree steaming mad. Mostly because of the pressure put on those in their late 20s and 30s to procreate.

"There's this expected inquisition among people where they ask you how many kids you have, and if you say none, then they give you advice," says "No Kidding!'s" Ciaccio, 29. "They tell you about infertility -- not that you may have it -- and they intertwine womanhood with motherhood."

Ciaccio, who made the choice not to have kids official when he and his wife decided he should get a vasectomy in 2001, also thinks the current focus on celebrities and the ubiquitous tabloid "Bump Watch" is anathema to his organization's cause.

"These actresses say things like 'I've done a lot of good with my life, but this is the most important thing I've ever done,'" says Ciaccio. "Granted, it's obviously important to be a good parent, but there's an idea that somehow they discovered it. Like, 'Look what I found.'"

In the Bay Area, the peer pressure for parenthood has also found its way into the gay community, just another infuriating happening for Misso, the San Francisco copywriter who wouldn't have stuck around to listen to the orchestra on the sinking Titanic.

"Having a family has certainly become a viable option for gay couples, especially in progressive places like the Bay Area. And maybe among some circles of gay people there is a bit of peer pressure to have kids since I think some gay people see having a child as a status symbol," says Misso. "Once you've got your house in the city, your second home in Sonoma, and your two Lexuses, what else is left to acquire?"