Amphytrite
Hard for Drah
 I don't really even like hearing about it or reading about it
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Posts: 6818 (1.112)
Reg. Date: Apr 2004
Location: Cowpenis
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Reply 1 of 58 (Originally posted on: 10-25-08 06:50:29 PM)
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Hmmm. When you ask these questions do you mean physically bearing children as opposed to adopting or having foster children, or do you mean in general having any sort of offspring? God, what a can of worms that would be.
My personal situation is that I physically can't have children, and before finding out I had no interest in having them--I absolutely hate children and ave had a lot of bad experiences with them. I get a lot of "you'll change your mind!" too, if I don't feel like being a bitch and snapping that I can't have kids. I still feel the same way, but now that I know I can't have my own children, I do worry that one day I will want to have kids and I won't be able to. My one friend with whom I discuss this has mentioned that adoption is always an option, and of course it is, but it's not the same. Adoption's an especially difficult process today, what with background checks and visitations and the social situations kids sometimes come from and that may be demanded by agencies.
To answer your questions...
Quote: do you think someone's life is more fulfilled if they have their own children?
I honestly don't think that one life can be more or less fulfilling without children; to compare an 80 year old woman with 2 kids and an 80 year old woman with no kids will only reveal that their lives have been very different. Fulfillent is a subjective ideal, and I think that two people can lead spectacularly different lives and still be fulfilled.
Quote: I know the obvious social stigma attached to it, (it's accepted and even expected in some cases) but do you feel as if there is something wrong with making the choice to not have children?
There's nothing inherently wrong with not having children, by choice or for health reasons. Considering the population of this planet, maybe more of us should be actively not having children, ya know?
Quote: Furthermore, do you think that people who have them develop into better, smarter people than those who don't?
This is an interesting question. "Better" is another subjective term, but certainly there is societal pressure to have kids because without them you haven't achieved everything you possibly can. For example, commercials for cleaning products, food, family-oriented companies--they all feature kids. (Oh those wacky children.) On the other hand, people without kids tend to be seen as people with more opportunities to do what they want, like travel, be artsy, whatever, because they have more time and resources (aka money). I feel like if I had a kid it would make me stupid and a terrible person because I'd be so bitter.
Spiff: amphytrite, the anti-tart
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