What I was trying to get at is that those who are lucky enough to have children are doing something rather special. And I certainly don’t agree that having children is putting our environment in danger.

If people want to be selfish, that’s their own issue - having a child and then resenting them for messing with their “future” (whatever that might be) is to me worse than simply being personally selfish. I had a friend who did that. Got pregnant because she “had” to have a specific guy marry her and take care of her - then got upset at the baby for “ruining” her weight, and “ruining” her social life… that’s pretty darn selfish, if you ask me, and didn’t do anything positive for the child, either.

Placing it under an “ecologically friendly” mask is something else entirely - instead of thinking they are “ecologically friendly”, it should be looked at as being personally responsible for their own actions, whether their actions are selfish or not. While I can say that, if everyone were personally responsible for their own actions and actually became aware of how their actions affected everyone (and everything) around them, it would eventually be environmentally positive, it is not a direct cause and effect argument - which is what “ecologically friendly” should (and most times does) mean.

Besides - if they’re honestly that selfish, it’s obvious to me that they aren’t emotionally ready to have kids… And won’t be anytime soon. LOL.

~M

I do not believe that children should be having children, nor should those who are not emotionally ready to have them and be parents. I can understand, “I’m not ready to be a parent” That is a perfectly valid reason to not have children. But I have heard one person say they wouldn’t have children because it would mess with their retirement plan. I”m sorry, I consider that a miserable reason. Honest, maybe, but still a miserable reason.

I applaud those who have decided that they do not wish to have children, for whatever reason, if only because they would not make a good parent for an unwanted child. They recognize this, and instead of bringing a child into the world and then resenting it, they chose instead to not have children at all.

I also agree that, with so many children who are out there, waiting for families to love and share their life with them, I don’t agree with the mad dash for fertility drugs. If you want a child, it doesn’t *need* to be a biological child for it to be loved completely.

All children should be loved, wanted, cared for and raised by parents who, no matter their ethnicity or religous background, will give them a stable, loving and nurturing home to be in.

~M

You and I are among those for whom parenting has been far more positive than negative in shaping us into better people with richer lives. It might have been partly luck, but a lot of conscious effort went into it, too. Neither of us may be the perfect mom, but we do our very best most of the time, and that’s good enough.

I don’t think it’s the least bit anti-environmental to have children — it’s sure not as bad as the conspicuous consumption of so many “childfree” people out there. And while I question the sanity of people like the Duggar family, who have 17 kids, I figure if they can support them financially (and they do!) then it’s their call.