Few decisions will impact your life as much as having kids. There as many cons as there are pros, so it’s no surprise that a lot of people are often confused about where they stand on the subject. If you’re on the fence about bringing children into this world, here are some valid reasons why putting the idea of procreation on hold forever can be in your best interest.
- You can save a ton of money. Kids don’t come cheap. On average, giving birth to a child in the United States will cost you about $10,000 in hospital bills. This figure doesn’t include prenatal exams, postpartum care, or additional costs that may arise due to childbirth complications. Raising that child to 18 years is going to cost over $200,000 without accounting for private school, college, and other unplanned expenses that come with the job. That’s a recipe for massive debt.
- Children are a huge responsibility. For the first 18 years of their life, children can barely do anything on their own. They need you to keep them alive, protect them, and help them make the right decisions. And you have to do all this without somehow damaging them emotionally or psychologically with your own issues, biases, etc. I don’t know about you, but being responsible for how another person turns out doesn’t seem like the bundle of happiness and fulfillment that society says it is.
- You’ll avoid the nasty side effects of pregnancy. I’ve watched and read horror stories that are less scary than all the things that could go wrong during pregnancy and childbirth. You could lose all your teeth, your uterus could fall out, your skin can turn three shades darker. You might get migraines that literally blind you for hours or ugly bruises on your vagina that won’t heal for months. Along with the unending list of complications and horrors, childbirth can actually kill you. No matter how I look at it, it’s just not a good bargain.
- Traveling with kids is difficult. If you’re the kind of person who loves adventure and jetting around the world, you won’t be able to do much of that with kids around. There are places you simply can’t take children to because it wouldn’t be appropriate. Even if you could take them, moving around with a child is exhausting. The only way to get around that is to slow your pace or leave them behind when you travel, and these options might not be suitable for your situation.
- Kids pose a risk to your relationships. Having a child isn’t going to be this magical bonding experience for you and your partner. Sure, there’ll be moments of that, but those moments will be drowned by unrealistic expectations, exhaustion, sleeplessness, and clashing parenting ideas. You won’t have as much time for your partner as before so your relationship satisfaction will decline. You also won’t have time to spend with your friends, so you’ll be saying goodbye to many friendships as well.
- You’ll reduce your carbon footprint. Avoiding plastic, using steel straws, and recycling for the rest of your life won’t make as much of a difference to the planet as not having a child. Procreation is the most environmentally destructive thing that we do. Not bringing another child into the world could be your best chance at fighting climate change and minimizing carbon emissions.
- Children will ruin your sleep and peace of mind. Parents are more likely to get less than six hours of sleep every night and drink coffee every day than non-parents. From the moment your child is born, you’ll be forced to sacrifice your sleep quality and schedule and restructure your rest around them. This prolonged sleep deprivation can lead to depression, stress, anxiety, weight gain, high blood pressure, weight gain, and a host of other health issues.
- Having kids contribute to lower life satisfaction. Studies show that contrary to popular belief, having children doesn’t make your life better. In fact, children contribute to lower life satisfaction and unhappiness. Unless you’re already satisfied with your life in terms of finances, career, health, and overall contentment before bringing a kid into the picture, you’re going to be less happy down the road.
- The little humans will grind your sex life to dust. People with kids aren’t pulling your legs when they say they’re not having as much sex as they used to before they had kids. The rigors of childbirth make it necessary for women to abstain from sex for one to two months after giving birth. Men experience a drop in testosterone for a year after the birth of their child to reduce aggression and enable them to be better caregivers. In addition to these, body image problems and the stress of parenting can make it harder for you to get it on.
- There’ll be no chance for you to pass on genetic illnesses. My family has a history of depression and addiction. While there’s no guarantee that I would pass that on to a child if I had one, I’m unwilling to take that chance. I know how hard it is to struggle with mental illness, and I wouldn’t wish that on another human being, much less a child. Not having a kid is one of the safest ways to keep from passing on any maladies resting comfortably in your gene pool.
