I’m not being flippant or rhetorical. This is a serious question. Why do people choose to have children?
I’ve been sitting on this entry for weeks. Never before have I logged into Movable Type for day after day and had it tell me, “You have 1 draft.” I just haven’t been quite sure how to tackle the topic. Do I attack this like a dissertation, listing all the philosophical and sociological theories for procreation that I can think of? Do I keep it informal and funny? Do I engage my readers and hope someone will join in the conversation?
Guess I’ll just jump in.
This really feels like my deconversion from Christianity: a slow but revealing process that makes my brain look at the world differently. Once I seriously asked the question, once I stepped back from my worldview and considered it, I got my mind blown.
If you have kids, or are expecting, I seriously want to know: why? I’m not being a dick; I’m being serious. When you sat down with your mate and had The Discussion, what was the driving force behind it? Was there a religious imperative to actively bring children into the world — or at least, not to prevent it? Do you just like kids, and wanted some of your own? Were you looking to pass on your own life lessons and beliefs for future generations? Or was it just time?
(Of course, if you’re like my Mom, there wasn’t so much of a mutual discussion as there was an after-the-fact decision, so that’s a little different… but not so much. There was still the decision of birth versus abortion, and raising versus adoption.)
If you’re consciously choosing not to have children, I ask you: why not? Is it a personal decision (you don’t like kids, or you prefer your current lifestyle), or is it a sociopolitical decision (humans are in no danger of going extinct, and food is becoming more scarce)? Or is it something else entirely?
I don’t want to start a debate as much as a discussion. Inquiring minds want to know!