Reply to If you never had/never wanted children by choice

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[quote=Anonymous]I grew up in a stable, loving family with two parents who could not have been more supportive. I just never wanted kids, and knew that from a very early age. It actually never even occurred to me that young people might have a different view until I had a really revealing conversation with a good friend at age 16, and she already knew she did want kids - three of them (which is what she has now, in our late 40s).

I guess to the extent that my parents raised me to be independent and make decisions for myself, I didn't feel pressure to change my mind about kids. But certainly that was the default assumption, that I would - and I had to push back about it (never got a huge backlash, which I appreciate).

My sibling has two wonderful kids - one of whom is profoundly disabled - and they are the apples of all our eyes. My parents love being grandkids, my sister loves being a mother. And now, almost 50, I still feel good about not having kids. In my 20s, I still walked around assuming most people felt like I did - and I think at least one relationship with a guy I really loved fell apart in part because I was so open about that, and he didn't push back at all; took me at my word, and went on to have kids with someone else. And good for him for being that self-aware!

Anyway: yeah. My not wanting kids is no reflection of the family I grew up in, other than that I was given the freedom to figure out for myself what I did and didn't want.[/quote]

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