Yes children are beautiful gifts and being able to be parents is a miracle. So many people long for the chance to build a family of their own with screaming children. Whether a family is built through blood or adoption, it doesn't matter, it's a dream fulfilled. But that doesn't mean it has to be for everybody. We all don't have to be parents and many people really shouldn't, so let's support the people who choose themselves just as much as we support families.
Redditor u/onlinebeing wanted the childless to say their piece by asking.... Redditors that plan to probably not have kids, what are your reasons?
Enough Said.
Giphy
I was a teacher. CatrionaPatricia
I teach high school, and I have noticed that percentage of married teachers without kids is much higher than the average population. I think spending six to seven hours a day with kids really drives home how difficult having kids is, and that it is not a decision to make lightly. Workacct1999
Legacy.
I'm horrible at handling stress and sleep deprivation, and I probably have a genetic disorder that I absolutely don't want to pass on. bonita__applebum
I have so much crap in my family, from cancer to dementia that I'd be terrified to pass along. JimBobSandoval
Disorders.
Diagnosed with Narcissistic Personality Disorder. I've seen r/raisedbynarcissists and I am not putting any kid through that. buzz_darkyear69
Narcissism is very complicated, and it's also a spectrum. Narcissistic people are perfectly capable of being good people. Animalgirlmep
So Many Reasons.
Couldn't afford raising kids.
Didn't have good upbringing so wouldn't know how to raise one.
And the fear of pregnancy messing up my body. Smokeyeyemiss
At some point I might've been on the fence about having kids, but there was a thread on AskReddit that went along the lines of, "What's the worst part of pregnancy that nobody talks about?" That's how I, an adult woman who's taken multiple iterations of sex ed, first heard about shit like massive tears, about being intentionally cut open from your anus to vagina to give the kid more room to escape, and never being able to hold your pee ever again. No thanks dude. Reddit
Not for Me.
Giphy
I don´t feel like sacrificing my life for them. I salute all of you, people, who do this. But tell me honestly, wouldn't the world be a better place, if people only made kids when they want to have kids instead of just doing what is expected of them? AzarTheGreat
Born Free!
My wife and I like our freedom and money. PM_GUITAR_PICKS
My husband and I have use-it-or-lose-it time off to burn before the end of the year, and we were talking about what to do with it. Neither of us really felt like taking a staycation, because we knew we'd just end up working. So after talking about if for like ten minutes, we went to Costco's website and booked a trip to Hawaii. We leave right after Thanksgiving. ObscureEmoji
Never felt like it.
I've never had that "I really want kids feeling." Ever. I'm in my thirties, if it were going to come it would have been here by now, and there's no way I could blithely create a whole new human hoping it turned out hunky dory without actually wanting them.
I mean of course it makes life in the performing arts more feasible without kids, I don't have to worry about my already-fragile body taking serious damage, I can sleep, I can save money, etc etc but if I wanted kids, those "reasons" wouldn't matter.
The only reason that matters is that I just don't want kids. The same way I don't want a parrot — they're amazing for other people, but I don't want one in my house.
Edit: I was briefly pregnant when I was 27. It's not "different when it's your own." I got sterilized at 29 and I am still consciously grateful at least once a week that I can live my life on my terms without being paranoid about another accident. Subtlety87
Crappy Choices.
I know how crappy this sounds but if my child came out autistic or with some severe mental issues, I just couldn't do it and it's not fair to them, my wife, or any of their siblings that would be guilted into taking care of them when I die. SHROOMHEAD666
I was married in my 20s and it came to light fairly quickly that her gene pool was going to make any children we had a coin flip. Knowing what struggles she was facing, we decided early on that we couldn't do that to a child and just live with it if they turned out having the same or similar issues.
I got used to the idea of never having kids pretty easily and embraced it soon after that. When my wife passed away, I actively looked for partners without children and found a girl with similar preferences. 10 years later, we are very happy with our decisions. Darth_Corleone
Witnessing the Truth.
I was open to it until my brother and sister-in-law had kids. Nope. Not a chance. They have no time to themselves, they're always tired, they've aged terribly, they don't get to do things that they want any more. They love it and my niece and nephew are lovely, but that's as close to that lifestyle as I'm willing to get. YesterdayWasSunday
Resentments.
Giphy
With my current mindset, I'd be an awful mom. Resenting my kids for my lost freedom. But who knows, I might grow out of it. wanderforward
Every once in awhile I check in with myself and try to imagine the most amount of time per day that I would be willing to commit to parenting for 18+ years (but obviously more so in the first 5-10) and it's never more than 20-30 minutes... I feel like I would have to be okay with giving up at least 4-6 hours for it to even be a possibility worth thinking about. Reddit
