Oddbean

Well, if you are one of those people you could help enlighten me right now, but you seem reluctant... I am not saying that it's impossible to avoid being incredibly lonely without kids, or even that loneliness can definitely be avoided by having them. I'm not saying it's impossible to have a fulfilling life without kids. What I am saying is that everyone is going to die. And without kids all the people close to a person's age will die & become incapable of traveling & interacting in a similar time frame. Kids (if you raise & treat them right) are likely to produce a growing network of loving relationships with younger generations of people who wouldn't exist without you & as a result have some natural inclination toward loving & appreciating you, & seeing that you are cared for in your old age. What happens later in life is certainly not the only thing to consider, but it's an important piece IMO. I think the more someone tries to buck our biological programming, the harder it will be to achieve real feelings of fulfillment. And I think there is a very anti-human cult of people trying to encourage others not to have kids & to misattribute natural feelings of awkwardness to being in the wrong body & other such nonsense.

Raising kids is challenging, having done that, we are now experiencing that growing network of loving relationships and it’s fair compensation for the efforts and consternation raising kids inevitably is. I can confirm from experience much that Jeff has expressed here.

The blessing of children is rewarding for most that, like you mention, that put the positive effort in. I hope it becomes easier for people to find suitable partners and create stable/long-lasting relationships that will rear healthy children. BTC is hope for a form of economic growth to give ease to individuals struggling or worried about providing an adequate life for children. I see many childless patients suffer with loneliness or lack of support for basic needs. If that’s not in the cards for someone, they can be kind to other children, help communities, friends, and family to get that support in the future. It’s important to appoint one or two individuals for that support and to apportion wealth/compensation to them. It is a lot to ask someone to care for one in a helpless or challenging state of health.