I'm pro-choice, have never wanted children, and will never (no matter how financially stable I may be in the future) lay down like a fat sow and give birth to a child.
1. BIRTH. Imagine pushing a grapefruit through your anus. Imagine it taking five hours. Imagine that after five hours of trying to push a grapefruit through your anus and failing that doctors cut a big hole in your belly to remove the grapefruit.
2. RESPONSIBILITY. All of life's prior responsibilities pale in comparison. If you decide to have a child, that new person must absolutely be your top priority. A child is a life long commitment to a person who is innocent of this choice.
3. DIAPERS. Disposable diapers these days absorb lots of liquid, and they don't leak. But you still have to change hundreds of them. As the child gets older, diapers become smellier and bigger tasks. Then there is toilet training, with its inevitable setbacks and accidents.
4. 3AM WAKE UPS. Caring for a child takes a lot of physical and emotional energy, made all the harder by babies that only sleep for ninety minutes at a time. Parents need sleep to work well, and they often can't get it.
5. HARD ON MARRIAGES. A baby takes so much time and attention that spouses must already have a great friendship and work well together before the baby arrives. It is a certainty that one spouse will disagree with the other about decisions on how to care for the child. It is likely that one spouse will resent the lost time with the other. A marriage with some difficulties will get much worse when a baby is crying and the parents are sleep deprived.
6. ADVICE. Total strangers leap forward to offer advice about how to raise your child. Most of the advice is contradictory and flat out wrong. Strangers will be much easier to ignore than your friends and family, many of whom have raised children quite successfully. Some advice you may want, but lots of it will be unsolicited and unappreciated.
7. CHANGED RELATIONSHIPS. When your family expands by the addition of a child, your relationships with everyone, and I mean everyone, changes. Your child is at the forefront of most of your thoughts, and those people without children cannot relate. Those people with children are finally happy to see that you can relate. Everyone will watch how you raise your child and will at some point cluck and disapprove, including those who raised ten children and those who raised none. Some strong bonds will weaken, some friends will not been seen again. Some may improve, but with your energies and devotions directed towards your child, that is much less likely.
8. FREE TIME. Most time not spent with your child will be spent catching up on work you need to get done. You and your spouse must carefully plan any time away from your child, and very little can be done spontaneously. To pretend otherwise is probably neglectful of either your child or your spouse.
9. WORRY. Parents always worry about their children, monitoring how fast they reach each milestone and how well they grow, eat, sleep, crawl, walk, read, make friends, and so on. And yet there is little a parent can do beyond allow a child to proceed at his or her own pace. It can be frustrating and scary when your child isn't eating well, or cannot read at his or her grade level, or is socially inept.
10. MONEY. Children are expensive in several ways. One parent loses wages while caring for a child. Children need to eat and be clothed. They need toys with which to explore the world. They need health care, they need education, they need activities and hobbies. They will need car insurance. The proper raising of a child is not cheap.
11. LAUNDRY. Children do not contribute to household chores until they are older, and even then they generate more work than labor. Having a child means that your living space will need more cleaning than before, not only as your child makes a mess of it but also because you cannot let your child crawl around in dust and dirt. Your child will find all sorts of vile things to put in his or her mouth in the cleanest of homes. Your laundry and dishes will double, and you will do all the picking up after your child for many years.
12. TANTRUMS. Many times you will tell your child that they cannot have what they want, and they will scream to get you to change your mind. You will need to avoid saying %26quot;no%26quot; as much as possible, but then stick to your decision when you do. Otherwise you will encourage tantrums. However, younger children cry because that is the only way they have to express themselves, and you need to be attentive. It becomes difficult judging when a child is having a serious problem and when he or she is having a tantrum. Tantrums are not just for two-year-old children, they will continue for years in many different forms as your child will attempt to change your mind. At some point children figure out how to get what they want despite you..
13. REBE
20 Reasons Not to Reproduce - What do you think about them?
You're still not going to convince parents or parents-to-be to skip that step in their lives. But being a childfree woman myself, I can't disagree with those reasons.
20 Reasons Not to Reproduce - What do you think about them?
These are valid excuses for someone who doesn't want any responsibilities, to avoid having kids. People who actually HAVE kids are mostly aware of these risks and challenges.
%26quot;and will never lay down like a fat sow and give birth to a child.%26quot; -- ROFL! You just offended ALL women who have kids or who want to have kids!
20 reason you probably shouldn't have children...
Those are pretty much the reasons I don't wanna have kids.
those aren't a problem to someone who will actually take responsibility
reason one to have kids.....................1) the continuation of the human race
People who don't want children shouldn't have them, seems like the religious front are having enough per capita anyway.
Not everyone can afford 10 kids in the house except evangelicals and politicians.
You really need a long list of 20 reasons for not wanting kids? Are you specifically trying to offend women who have kids?
There is another user on this forum who doesn't want kids, the most I've read is her saying %26quot;I don't want kids.%26quot; How about you keep it simple then?
All these reasons speak of selfishness and cowardice. I don't think much of any of them.
It's all true. But there's something missing - you haven't mentioned the love. The over powering, compelling, over whelming joy that comes with the birth of a child.
I wouldn't swap it for the world.
At least you know you should not have children. You are intellectually and emotionally incapable based on your reasons not to have a child. Good for you that you realize it. Now you should tell your 50 million sisters who have killed their babies.
Too each her own, not everybody is meant to be a parent.
Being a parent feels awesome and is worth the worry and extra time.
Besides you can contribute to the human race. Also you can adopt if you don't want to give birth and raise kids.
But I respect your choice. Because you've got valid points. Still why did you post this? Whatever its cool.
1. Birth - How else do you expect a fetus to develop? Would you rather it come out of your nose? P.S. Drugs.
2. Responsibility - You decided to have more responsibility when you moved out of your parents' place. It's just another step up on the ladder of life.
3. Diapers - Setbacks and accidents occur in every part of life. You can also get a service that delivers cloth diapers %26amp; cleans the ones that were used. There are many options. Toilet training is just another rung on the ladder.
4. Wake-ups do not last terribly long. And they don't occur for every child. As every person is a snowflake, so are babies. I slept through the night practically from day 1.
5. Hard Marriages - A marriage is what you put into it. As long as you're still paying attention to each other, you're in a pretty good spot. You both know what a responsibility a child is. And the night-time wakeups don't last forever.
6. Advice - they're well meaning people. You get advice from people if you let them know what's going on in your life too. Doesn't mean you take theirs either.
7. Changed Relationships - Yes, there is a new person in your life. Your life changes when you go from High School to College, or from College to Work. Again, rung on the ladder.
8. Free time - You are an adult. By this time you should be past partying. You brought a kid in your life because you felt something was missing. There will still be free time, but all you have to do is use time management, and prioritize.
9. Worry - Yes, well, people worry about job security, paying rent, savings, our ecosystem. Worry happens. A lot. Why should it stop you when it hasn't before?
10. Money - Heck, you support yourself and your significant other. Your S.O. supports you. If your parents were decrepit, you would probably take them on too. Another rung in the ladder.
11. Laundry - Yes, chores increase with the amount of people. Yes, your kid may put stuff in his/her mouth. That is actually what is expected. Keep an eye on the baby.
12. Tantrums - Adults still have tantrums. I'm sure you have a couple in your life that does this.
13. Rebellion - Aww, your kid is turning into a normal adult! Congratulations! Slowly back off and let their wings spread.
14. Dissonance - If you love your kid enough, and treat them with respect and honor them for who they are, you will either not experience it, or have a very small amount of this. There are lots of children who have fabulous families and will always think of their parents with joy.
15. Pain - Everyone gets hurt. You don't overprotect your mother or your S.O. do you? S*** happens. Rung in the ladder.
16. 6 Billion People - And 1 more won't hurt. Guess what? If mother nature couldn't take us on anymore, none of us would be here. This is not your responsibility. If you're really worried about overcrowding, go to Montana.
17. Failed Expectations - Because you have expectations means you love them. That they didn't meet them means they're human. Congratulations. You birthed a human. Nobody's perfect. There's always something special with each person.
18. Lost freedom - Excuse me? There are plenty of %26quot;military brats%26quot; who move every year. Although, it may not be the best situation ever, it's better than not having parents and being abused and mistreated.
19. Hard Work - It may be hard work, but in the end, you have a unique masterpiece. Even driving took you practice.
20. Death - Occurs with everyone. It's unfortunate, but that's how life does move on. Most likely your child will not die before you. It is a tragedy when it does occur, but from what I've heard, the lives they touch are more important than how they died.
So don't have kids. who (besides maybe your mother) gives a crap if you reproduce or not?
2, 5-7, 9-11, 17, 19 already happens without kids, and 18 can occur if you have to go to prison or parole. And I don't want kids either, it would be a waste of 18 years of my life. Having kids would ruin all of my hopes and dreams.
