India has undergone a dynamic demographic transition resulting in relatively low fertility. In this context, one would expect that the population of childless women has recently become more heterogeneous. In particular, one would suspect a process of polarisation with a growing distinction between women who are unable to give birth and women who forgo motherhood for one reason or another.

We investigate this supposed polarisation within the framework of the life course approach. We examine the childless Indian women’s partnership trajectories and their associated socioeconomic profiles.

Data was extracted from the fourth round (2015–2016) of the National Family Health Survey. A total of 8,997 women aged 36–49 who have not given birth by age 36 were studied. The analysis consisted of three parts: a sequence analysis, a cluster analysis, and a multinomial regression.

Results confirm childlessness’ polarised experience, along with a real heterogeneity of partnership trajectories. Indian childless women come from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds, and their life courses reflect a continuum of different realities in terms of social norms and decision-making power. In particular, trajectories without any relational event or with extramarital sexual activity are observed among the most educated women, suggesting that their childlessness may be related to factors other than infertility.

By describing the heterogeneity of their backgrounds and profiles, our findings challenge the uniform representation of childlessness in India. In doing so, this article participates in the expansion of research on non-parenthood in non-Western populations and highlights the contribution of the life course approach.