Choosing to be Childless

For many people, they know all their lives that they want to have kids and they cannot wait until they are old enough to make that dream come true.  Heck, watching shows about people having babies, some of these are teenagers who just could not wait any longer to have kids and went out and got themselves pregnant.

But there are other people, those who choose to remain childless, that people cannot understand and feel that those who choose to be childless are missing out.  I do not agree with this, as I am someone who has never had the desire to multiply and create little mini me’s.   I feel that my life is full even without these little mini me’s.

I can’t tell you when I made the decision not to have kids, and I’m still not 100% sure, but at my age and not having a partner anywhere on the horizon, it is not as likely to happen.  I remember my mother always telling me that any children I had would turn out like my sister, and this was a major turnoff in regards to having kids (If you met my sister, you would understand).

There was a point in my life, back when I was married, that I thought I wanted children.  But in hindsight (isn’t hindsight great?) I think it was more of the, “I am married and this is what I am supposed to do next” mentality.  Not to mention, I had several friends that were in the process of having children as well, so there was a bit of peer pressure.  Not the greatest reason to have a child, but I am sure there are others who have had worse reasons.

Now that I have gotten a bit older and a bit wiser, if that is possible, I am sticking to my guns on this decision.  I always said if I was having children, I would be done by this age, and I still feel that way.  I also know that I would want to be with a partner for several years before even considering having children, which does not leave me at an ideal age to have children. 

I am perfectly happy and content with this decision.  It allows me greater freedom in life and the ability to do the things that I want.  While my cats are a bit like children, I can ignore them for a day or two and they do not mind.