More importantly, neither of us (me, especially) wants to see my body torn asunder during childbirth.
Wow... if that's all parenthood were about, who WOULD want to have kids? But you see, I actually feel sorry for her that she doesn't know anything about the JOYS of parenthood... what could possibly cause her to see parenthood so negatively?
It is true that you never really know the full meaning of love until you have children (and I write this with my 2 year old daughter sitting on my lap and my 5 year old son humming in the other room)... what it is to love with no expectation of reward, to love wholly and unselfishly. From the moment you have a child and you hold them in your arms, you are forever vulnerable: you will feel deeply every tragic story you see on the news that involves a child and worry that it could happen to yours. When they are disappointed or hurt, you feel it acutely... you are their biggest fan and greatest cheerleader.
And it is precisely tending to that screaming infant and then seeing it smile which causes you to bond inextricably and chasing around that toddler as its eyes open to the world which helps you to see it through new eyes. And, oh, the fullness of your heart as you see your child's angelic face at night when you look in on them as they sleep, reassuring yourself that all is well as you hear their soft breaths. And what greater pleasure than the embrace of your child and hearing "Mommy (or Daddy, as the case may be), I love you!". I never thought my heart could possibly be capable of so much love and pain until I had children.
Tell me again after your daughter goes through her early teens. Kids are still cute when they are that age.