...some people really don't get the idea that personal stuff are personal choices and it's a matter of personal opinion. Personal being the key term, too.

And we're really not short of humans on this planet right now, so no thanks.

I must agree. I want kids, but I can completely understand that some people don't, and anyone who tries to tell you what you should or should not do with your life is wrong to do so.

Hey, I love my son and I've always wanted kids. So I am probably happier with kids than without. But just because 'I' am happier with kids, certainly doesn't mean everybody else would be. I know several people IRL who have long ago made the choice of not having kids.

And it's not just for the sake of career or whatever. I can mention one person right here and now, who have chosen never to have kids, just because she doesn't want to. Period.

It's a consious choice and should be respected. And frankly, I think it's really unfair to the children born to parents who have kids just because "it's what you have to do" and not to parents who really want them.

Ugh. I personally want kids, but that's your own choice. No one has the right to condemn someone else's lifestyle.

People on both sides of every issue can be so horribly obnoxious about it...can't we all just decide to do what we think is best, and not try to convert everyone else to our point of view?

My 'favorite' anti-child-free argument is "it's different when they're yours!". Yes, it is different. There's no one to take them the hell away from me when they won't STFU or I want a moment to myself. There's no one to pay the bills except me, and I'm in debt just supporting myself and going to school - and don't say "oh, the father", because right now there is no suitable father, and I'm not going to compromise on a life partner just because my biological clock is ticking. (Which it isn't anyway.)

There's also no one to take care of me and the baby when I inevitably become massively depressed because 1) have to be off meds to prevent birth defects 2) postpartum - almost guaranteed to hit after 4 bouts of normal depression 3) sleep deprivation 4) constant stress of being alone in the house with a screaming baby 5) guilt over NOT being ecstatic like the whole world thinks I should. You know those stories about people shaking infants to death? That'd be me. Not because I'm evil, but because I have a chronic mental illness that would be exacerbated LITERALLY five times over by the situation. If I really wanted a baby, I'd need a live-in caretaker for the first year and possibly a surrogate on top of it...or I could just adopt or NOT HAVE ONE at all.


I do, I admit, occasionally feel guilty/worried-for-humanity seeing all the absolute morons having multiple children on a generation length of under 20 years, while the most intelligent and educated portions of the populace have less-than-replacement-rate on a generation-length of 30ish. Not good longterm. But the need to improve the gene pool really just makes me want to pour in chlorine, not add one drop of clean water, and I'm not sure the asthma and depression don't make the water just as bad as the dumb does.