BellaOnline Forums Relationships Married No Kids Great article about the decision to not have kids

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That is an *awesome* article, Hampton. Thank you for sharing that!

I definitely want to comment on the "you will regret it" aspect the article mentions. I know *many* child free couples who are in their late 40s and 50s. So they are past the age of child rearing. So they are the ones who would regret it if there was regret to be had. Honestly, they do not. They are very content with their lives, content with their path, and have no regrets.

I think it is a lot like abortion in that sense. Yes, a few people may regret having an abortion and then are very vocal about that. But the vast majority of women who have had an abortion are content with their decision. You just rarely hear from the content people, because they feel no need to loudly express their opinions. They simply relax and are happy.

Thanks, and I apologize for using the term "childless." I meant to say childfree. Childless implies that we are missing something rather than a conscious decision on our parts.

Since I was a young girl, I always felt that I did not want to have children. A decision that my mother supported since I told her in my early teens. Now that I'm in my mid-30s, it seems like everyone I know is pregnant - friends, neighbors, my sister-in-law. I just don't have that desire to be a parent. My in-laws say "but you're so great with your nephews." Like somehow deciding to be childfree means you hate kids!

Articles like this always make me wonder why parent/motherhood is the only way to impact the life of a child. Because I am CF I can stay after class and help your child. I could not do this if I had my own children to pick up and help. Because I don't have kids I can spend time over the summer tutoring yours instead of my own. I can also volunteer with animals, many of whom were going to be euthanized because you gave them away when you had kids. This is why I will not regret my choice.

This is not a bash, I work with rescued homeless cats and many have under why they were given to shelters- could not have this pet with new baby. And these cats with nothing wrong with them ended up in line to be euthanized.

You are exactly right Taitinfae - there are NUMEROUS ways to make the world a better place without having kids of your own. In fact the argument can easily (and properly) be made that you can help far more children / pets / your aspect of choice if you are not tied down specifically caring for kids of your own. It's a simple balance equation. If we had say 25% of the women each raising say 5 kids each, the remaining 75% of the women could be child free and spend their time on more encompassing global issues that helped out the entire world. Think of what we could accomplish then!