Thoughts on Having Kids

I'm around the age where it is acceptable to get married and have kids, but I have choose not to do either of these things. There are a few reasons why I would not want to have kids. One reasons is the enormous responsibility. Another is the unpredictability of what your child will be like. And the third reason is that life is too hard and just not good enough. I'll explain all of these reasons in detail below.

Having a kid is a big responsibility in terms of commitment and time, not to mention the financial aspect of it. When you have a child, you are pretty much saying that you are going to take care of this child and be a parent to him or her for at least the next 18 years. That is a long time! You are responsible to provide for them and make sure they have a good life as they grow up. Taking care of yourself is hard enough, but throw in another person and you are working twice as hard.

There is so much uncertainty when having a child. You don't know if it is going to be a boy or a girl. You don't know how he or she is going to turn out. You don't really know how it will affect your life if it is your first child. People assume their child will be born healthy, but many babies are born with medical problems or disabilities. As mentioned before, life is hard enough even when you don't have any significant problems to overcome, but throw in a mental or physical disability and it makes it much more difficult. You are really taking a chance and rolling the dice when you decide to have a child. You hope for the best, but you never know what you are going to get.

The last reason for not having kids is the fact that life is too hard and not good enough. This is a depressing reason but there are so many bad things and negativity in the world that it would be unfair to bring someone into it and subject them to these things. I realize this may be a controversial reason and there can be a lot of discussion about it. I think the world needs to be a better place to live and the living situation needs to be very good before deciding to bring a child into the world.

What about the flip side? One might ask, "Haven't you ever seen a baby and wished you had one of your own"? This has not happened often, but I have worked with young children in the past and it has made me consider this question. In moments like that, I have thought about what it would be like to raise a child of my own, but all things considered, I still would decide against it. I would be more willing to help someone else raise a child by assisting with babysitting. This would provide a similar experience without all the pressure and commitment of having your own child.

What are your thoughts on weather or not to have kids? Share your thoughts in the comments below.