Reddit
“I love my life too much”: Why people don’t want to have children
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Some people consciously choose not to have children. The reasons for this can be very different. Some people have spoken about why offspring are out of the question for them.
For some, children are the most beautiful thing in the world, maybe even the meaning of life. Others, however, cannot do anything with it. They consciously decide against having offspring – and are often looked at from an angle.
On the social media platform Reddit, a user asked the community why they didn’t want to have children. “What are your reasons?” The person wanted to know. She got a lot of responses showing different perspectives on the subject.
Fear of pregnancy and childbirth
Women in particular took part in the discussion. Many of them fear pregnancy and the birth itself and therefore do not want to carry a child to term themselves. “I’m afraid of pregnancy,” confessed one user. “I never want to experience that.” Not only is the physical pain of childbirth an argument against children for some, but also the risk of postnatal depression.
Once the child is born, it means an obligation for parents over many years – basically for a lifetime. Some shy away from getting involved. “Once I am a mother, I can never not be a mother again,” writes one woman. “I like it when I can decide for myself what to do without having to look after a child.” “Children are funny and cute, but not around the clock,” writes someone else, and one man comes to the following self-assessment: “I would be a good uncle, but a terrible father.”
Not all of them dare to be a parent
Parents have to say goodbye, at least temporarily, to some of the freedoms that childless people enjoy. Some do not want to give up this independence. “I just love my life too much,” says one user, listing points that, in her opinion, are no longer possible with children: traveling and eating out with a man, for example. Another user writes: “I am selfish, so I would not sacrifice my time for my children. I do not want to bring children into the world who are not unconditionally loved.”
Other people do not see themselves in a position to take good care of children either – and therefore prefer to do without it. A user reports of a trauma from her own childhood and some illnesses from which she suffers. This means that she cannot be there for her children. Someone doubts themselves too much: “I often change my mind,” he writes – but a child cannot simply be given back.
Some of the answers were as brief as they were succinct and honest. “I like money and silence,” said someone as the reason for his self-imposed childlessness. Reddit user “vicsj”, on the other hand, chose a more philosophical, and certainly worth considering, approach: “I would rather regret not having had children than having them.”
source: Reddit
This article originally appeared on stern.de.