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"-attending to a sick child is NOT how a person expresses their "creativity"."

Respectfully, I question this. Perhaps attending a sick child is not an ideal example of a creative act, but making the choice to procreate certainly is.

I don't say this to dismiss your frustrations. I do understand that parents have demands placed on them that those of us without kids have a hard time imagining. There seems to be a great dichotomy in how we, as a culture, put parenthood on a pedestal on one hand, and then renege support for real resources for parents/kids on the other.

What I would like to see is greater equality and fairness in the workplace for both parents and non-parents to pursue whatever act of "creation" they choose.

posted 2 years, 7 months ago
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This argument has been brought up in various ways throughout this thread, and I've heard it other places as well.

Where is the guarantee that all children of "responsible" adults will in turn have an impact for the good? Where is the guarantee that all children of parents who believe that it's god's will to subdue the earth will carry on that legacy?

The way we in the U.S. approach the use of our resources has got to change, one way or the other. It's arrogant to assume that only certain types of parents will be capable of raising kids ready to take on our legacy of problems.

posted 2 years, 7 months ago
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I  am a childfree by choice woman in my mid-thirties. I never decided not to have children, it simply never occurred to me to want them. My body doesn’t want them, and my mind is perfectly happy to go along. 

I’ve always felt this way. Even as a child I enjoyed the company of adults over other children. I don’t feel like I’m missing out on anything. I cherish my long hours of quiet and solitude that I feel I need to make my work as an artist. I can luxuriate in Saturday mornings sleeping in, drinking coffee, reading, and spending time with my partner.

Many people say they don’t want the responsibility of kids, and I suppose that’s the case for me as well. But it goes beyond shirking responsibility; for me it’s a matter of understanding what responsibilities I feel I capable of shouldering and that child-rearing is not an inevitable responsibility that we must all take on.

I have environmental concerns regarding over-population as well, but in my personal life this is secondary to not wanting kids to begin with. It does speak deeply to my concerns that there continue to be untouched and unpopulated places. Even if the earth were capable of sustaining our increasing population, at what cost would that be?

posted 2 years, 7 months ago
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