Patricia Grisafi
Kids aren’t for everyone. While lots of people enjoy raising children, some would prefer to live child-free lives. And there are lots of reasons.
On Reddit, folks who don’t ever want children are sharing why they made that choice.
Yes, kids are expensive. It can be stressful to raise tiny humans. Some people don’t want to pass down their genes or would prefer to keep their lives as simple as possible. The world is basically ending — why bring more people into it?
Whatever the reason, it’s important that people are able to make choices about their families, and that means being able to have children or rejecting that option.
1. Taking Care Of Them
“Can’t even take care of myself.” — Aqquila89
2. Money
“They’re a massive financial and emotional responsibility.” — sovngrde
3. Lack Of Desire
“Lack of desire to become a parent or have kids. You know how some people want kids so bad, they suffer mentally and emotionally from not having them or knowing they can’t have them? How people say they feel hormonal, wanting kids real bad, they can’t control it? Their ovaries are exploding? Baby fever? Or any other colloquialism about wanting to have a baby real soon? Never had that. People kept telling me that as I’d grow older, would reach my 30s, find my soulmate, my friends start having children, etc., I would start to have that feeling. I went through all these milestones and I still don’t have that desire for kids. And I don’t think it’s necessary to have kids if one does not have the desire for it.” — ChibiSailorMercury
4. Too Stressful
“That whole thing about your friends start having kids and it will make you want one. Funny thing was people around me having kids was the exact reason my 50/50 went to I don’t want them. I can tolerate kids for short spans of time like I’ll babysit but at the end of the day I don’t have to deal with the stressful part of having kids( sickness, tantrums, money, etc.)” — Tahtygirl
5. “I’m Lazy”
“I’m lazy. I like my free time. I like money (well, the little I have!). I like sleep. I’ve also just never had the instinct in me to want kids. I feel complete without them. Plus it’s scary enough worrying about my own future, let alone the future of miniature humans I am responsible for bringing into the world. Rather give it a miss.” — Concerned-Pineapple
6. Free Time And Space
“As someone who wants to become an elementary school teacher, people are often shocked to find out I don’t want children. But the reason is simple: they cost a LOT of money, they take up a lot of free time and space and I have terrible genes.” — PearFickle
7. Sacrifices
“Because I believe that children deserve parents that will love them, always put them first, spend quality time with them and make sacrifices so that their children can have the best opportunities. But at the same time have the strength to set boundaries and discipline them in a healthy way so that they grow into good human beings. Also because I don’t currently have a partner or much financial stability in my life at this stage and I don’t want to be a single parent or bring a child into the world if I’m not in a position to provide for them. And I don’t trust myself to be unselfish enough to be everything that I believe a child deserves. I sometimes catch myself thinking that children might be nice; but until I’m sure of myself, financially stable and in a steady relationship a child is unlikely to be in the picture.” — vixterlkirby
8. Freedom
“I want to do what I want, when I want.” — Ghengiscone
9. Genetics
“The gene thing in particular hits me hard. I have an incurable autoimmune disease, and there’s at least a 20% chance I pass the disease I have on to my children, and not to mention the possibility of an even more severe autoimmune disease like lupus. I don’t think I’d ever be able to forgive myself if I passed that on to a child, especially with how much I struggle with my own disease. It’s one of the issues that bothers me most about whether I want to have kids or not.” — casswie
10. “Cutting Off The Cycle”
“I was raised horribly so I don’t know how to raise someone well. My parents had children even though their parents abused them. My grandparents’ parents probably also abused them. I’m just cutting off the cycle.” — Spencer2091
11. Feeling Complete With Your Partner
“Freedom. My husband and I would probably be pretty good parents and we’re in a good spot financially, but we feel complete with each other. We have fun together and want to spend the rest of our lives without the responsibility and stress of kids.” — billieaspen515
12. Climate Issues
“Have you seen the world out there? I mean several generations have already looked at serious looming problems and said, ‘but the children are our future! They’ll fix it!’ Within my lifetime I’ve seen climate change go from ‘global warming’ and very mild changes to once-in-a-century environmental events happening every year. The boomers kept saying that one day the younger generations will be in charge and they’d deal with it then, but even now the boomers are a massive proportion of the voting population with it only being 3 years since Millennials have outnumbered them. It’s time to stop making more people until we can fix the problems we’re causing.” — DJCorvid
13. They’re Annoying
“I find them very annoying.” — SacredO1927
14. Mental Health
“I value my mental health.” — U-107
15. Body Changes
“This is petty, but as a woman, I don’t want the body changes that come with having a baby.” — likeellewoods
Featured Image: Unsplash
