Childless And Happy

[Kromovaracun]

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/23/reader-center/no-kids-no-regrets.html?smid=fb-nytimes&smtyp=cur

Interesting feature in NYT on people reflecting on their decision not to have children and how in many cases it left them feeling more fulfilled and happy about their lives.

Any ABers feel the same? Personally I've always felt the biggest single advantage to being gay was that nobody expected me to raise a family - my heterosexual friends and family all seem very caught up in the pressure to become parents and I feel extremely relieved that it doesn't affect me nearly as much. Seems to me that folks on the whole would be much happier and less burdened if we stopped stressing parenthood as an obligatory milestone in life.

[Jackdaw33]

At the last Tory leadership election it was raised by one of the contestants that Theresa May did not have children. Whether through choice or inability I don't know, but what I do know, as has already been said, it is no one else's business.

[hereIam]

I sometimes regret that I didn't have kids, but mainly because my lovely parents never got the chance to be grandparents and that can hurt me at times now they are gone. I was never very maternal and that's just the way it was.

[Bazile]

My daughter has just had her 'first' child

Although she is gorgeous and we are proud to be grandparents - it is good to know that we can hand her back to her parents .
I don't know how we coped with the stress and responsibilities
of bringing up kids - we obviously did .

I think if you have a yearning to have kids , that's fine
If you don't want kids , that's equally fine .

I agree that you ( if you don't have kids ) can't possibly know how you would feel if you did - and vice versa

[ummmm]

I think had I not accidentally fallen pregnant so young I might not have had kids. I don't regret them though. Sometimes it was hard juggling work and kids but we had, and still have, good times. We're a very close unit.

I'm glad I had them young.