Before the advent of the welfare state your children were your insurance policy who would take care of you in your old age. It is also the imperative way in which those cultures that have survived and expanded were able to procreate and pass on their legacy.
Islam is today the largest growing religion by way of the womb. Look at any region where Muslims have settled and they took over by out-reproducing the locals (kosovo, Bethlehem come to mind as more recent examples). The muslims discovered long ago, that the womb is the true weapon of mass destruction. There is a reason why women in Islam are kept suppressed and practically slaves, they have only one function in the islamic male dominated world, and that is to bear more muslims.
As far as my being childless, it is not by choice, but rather by circumstance, as it requires a willing partner to perpetuate the species etc.. Conditions which have never occurred in my particular case and as I grow older probably never will.
If there is a silver lining in all this, it is the fact that most of these couples who are childless, are self centered leftist PC types. The devout fortunately are having children at a very high rate. Among the Hasidim and fundamentalist Christians as well as Catholic Mexicans the rate is well high enough. Unfortunately we have muslims amongst us, who though small in number today because of their reproductive rate will be a substantial portion of the population by the end of the century. Given enough time, they will be the majority here.
