[Durus]

There is such hostility on this thread to those who have chosen to not have children. I don't know where such hostility comes from but I can say this...It's nobodies business but their own.

[countess]

I don't know where such hostility comes from but I can say this...It's nobodies business but their own.

What a refreshingly CONSERVATIVE opinion!

[Modernman]

There is such hostility on this thread to those who have chosen to not have children. I don't know where such hostility comes from but I can say this...It's nobodies business but their own.

I tend to agree. What harm do these folks do by choosing not to have kids?

[Tax-chick]

They made it other people's business by whining to a reporter about how they're "neglected" and "not celebrated." Otherwise we wouldn't be having this thread!

[Gorzaloon]

There is such hostility on this thread to those who have chosen to not have children. I don't know where such hostility comes from but I can say this...It's nobodies business but their own.

My wife and I were the oldest of large families. We saw enough...The parents sick with worry over supporting us all, the diapers, the calls from teachers, and all the rest. All our many siblings have children, so there is no loss to the population or the family continuity. From life observations, and reading some of the more condemnatory posts, I susepct that what is behind some of the fury is the guilt some (Not a lot, but some) parents feel at, waking at 3 AM, all alone in the dark, in the deepest private secrets of their soul, wishing they had not had children, hating the soccer practice, the upcoming tuition pressures, and the whole trip.

They know they CANNOT feel this way. They MUST condemn people who do not have lives like theirs. They cling to condemning childless people, like clinging to a talisman, because NO ONE must suspect, even for a second, how they really feel.

[frgoff]

The couple who chooses not to have children are the most selfish of all people, for they demand the future pay for their present.

[jerwin63]

I have been married to my lovely wife for 17 years, we tried (the old fashioned way) to have kids for many years but were unsuccesful. When we found out how complicated and exspensive it was to have a baby using artificial means or to adopt we decided not to have children. What surprises me is that so many people are so worried and even hostile about our childless status. And not just family. I am 42 and only a week ago I ran into a high school classmate who insisted I should "go ahead and adopt" and that "it is not too Late!!!" I enjoy children, I spoil my nephew and support many local school programs not only with my very high taxes, but with donations from my business. I do not feel unfulfilled without children and must say I do not envy my friends the choices and sacrifices they have to make for thier mostly spoiled and ungrateful children. I do envy the pride that a very few of them feel about some of thier children who rise above the expected norm.
Do I wish that I had been able to become a father? Some days I do. Am I unhappy that I do not have children of my own? No.
What I see most in parents is the hope that they will produce children better suited and prepared for the world than themselves. Most give up that hope about the time the schools get hold of them.
I can live without the good and the bad part of being a parent. I do not base my self worth on children but on my contributions to God, family, and community.
JErwin63