child free adult here: we are few, but we exist. personally i don’t expect friendship from people with children, or it would be as shallow as heck. lonely? i agree. but thats the price to be paid for not being part of the crowd.

You don’t need child free friends so much as hobbies not really conducive to including young children in: thru-hiking, competitive rowing, marathon/half marathon/triathlon, cross fit, mountain climbing, metal/wood working, 3d printing, machine hobbyist, martial arts, etc…

Having a shared hobby is built in conversation and way to grow closer and having the hobby be adult only means you don’t need to deal with small kids if they have them.

Alow me an observation from the other side. I am a parent and I’m friends with two childfree couples (as well as with several other couples that don’t have children now but plan them in the future). I meet my childfree friends when I have someone to babysit, so I have a free evening for them. Sometimes we spend holidays together and on those occasions they don’t mind the children. In general, they choose the activities they want to participate in with me and it doesn’t influence our friendship at all. In the end, I think it’s about mutual respect (and finding people that are capable of it).