Nice post, Bernadette. You make a good case that some people may need to have children to be most effective. My guess is the situation depends heavily on the individual, although assessing which type of individual you are may not be easy. (You might think you don’t want kids and then change your mind, or you might think you need kids for a brief time, after which the need fades.)
Absolutely it’s going to vary with individuals greatly. The irreversible nature of the decision (and with a limited reproductive lifespan the decision for women and stable couples is irreversible either way) certainly adds to the difficulty in appraising what is right for you as an individual. It’s quite difficult to study this, especially as most people will try to come to a position where they believe their decisions have been ‘for the best’, and so may downplay the degree of suffering not becoming a parent has involved for them.
Nice post, Bernadette. You make a good case that some people may need to have children to be most effective. My guess is the situation depends heavily on the individual, although assessing which type of individual you are may not be easy. (You might think you don’t want kids and then change your mind, or you might think you need kids for a brief time, after which the need fades.)
Absolutely it’s going to vary with individuals greatly. The irreversible nature of the decision (and with a limited reproductive lifespan the decision for women and stable couples is irreversible either way) certainly adds to the difficulty in appraising what is right for you as an individual. It’s quite difficult to study this, especially as most people will try to come to a position where they believe their decisions have been ‘for the best’, and so may downplay the degree of suffering not becoming a parent has involved for them.