Going Childless

As I am growing up, I always think of having children as a given. I watch how my mom loves and takes care of her children, how my aunts, my grandmothers and neighbors love and take care of their children. Growing up in a town and being surrounded by many families with two or three children each, having children in the future just seemed to be the normal thing to do. I never thought of going childless. 

 One of my friends today told me that she never wanted to have children, and I thought that was so weird to hear. But after reading the article "None Is Enough" by Lauren Sandler, I gained some new insight on reasons why some women choose not to have kids, and I understood my friend more. Most of the women in the article are worried about their career and how they would not be able to focus on it as much with the responsibility of children. Most of the women also want to live a free and happy life without being tied down. I began to think about these reasons and going childless does not seem as bad as I thought it would be. First of all, I would not mind missing out on the 9 months filled with nausea, hot flashes, back pain etc. I would not be missing out on the painful labor that childbirth causes. Also, I'm not good with anything medical or having to do with the hospital so the less I have to deal with those things, the better. Jenna Johnson said that since she did not have any children, she is able to: "buy an unnecessary beautiful object, plan trips with [her] aging parents, sleep in, spend a day without speaking to a single person...". Johnson's quote shows that being childless can be very relaxing and there is not really a need (for her anyway) to have children. Being childless has its positives, but it also has its negatives. A negative of childlessness is that since motherhood has "become such a constant din", many people will question and often judge you for choosing not to have children. Another negative is that when you grow up and all of your friends and the people around you are having babies, you will feel a sense of loneliness and your bond with your friends might not be as close as they used to be. The last negative, for me, about going childless is that you will never be able to experience the strong love that most mothers have for their children. You won't be able to raise a child of your own and teach them your own values and watch them grow up.

So even though "going childless" has its perks, I think I will choose to have children of my own so I can watch them grow up and be an awesome parent.