The question is: Is it a rational thing?
Spot on.
The only question one really needs to ask about most things.
If you enter into it while you are in a rational state of mind, YES! OTOH, if you let your hormones make your selection for you, not on your life!
"The question is: Is it a rational thing?"
Oh, absolutely not! There is no way, in this day and age, that anyone can conclude that having children is a rational act-- it simply isn't.
Nevertheless, I had my children in full knowledge that it was an act from my heart, not my head, and my children are
my finest accomplishment and, along with my husband, my greatest joy. I take my youngest off to college in 5 days-- seems almost impossible to believe that my days of raising children are over. But, when I look at them, I'm just awed and overwhelmed and grateful.
Life is just so much BIGGER than I ever thought it would be. The size of my joys, the size of my sorrows. Having children, participatinig in the succession of generations, is a large part of what makes my life big.