I confess that having friends is great, but they are time consuming and expensive 
Mm-hmm, kids too.
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Another reason Iāll never be a parent
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You know, Iāve heard hundreds of dudes say theyāll never get married, yet most do.
I think most people who never have kids end up regretting it.
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Iām glad I made the decision to never be a parent.
Friends are cool though. 
Iām grateful I made a few new ones in my town last year. I didnāt realize how badly I needed new ones.
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I donāt know that most people who make the decision not to have them regret it. I would actually guess that the number of regretters is pretty low. Itās easy to observe the downsides of having kids, but impossible to understand second-hand the satisfaction.
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The research shows that the boost in happiness and well being from having children is driven almost exclusively by dads
the effect seems to be, on average, neutral to slightly negative for mums
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I think the number of people who regret having children is higher than what most suspect, but this will very easily open a can of worms that people here ā the majority of whom are parents, I believe ā will probably not like. There are many reasons why I have decided to not become a parent. But in any case I am happy to (hopefully) become a childfree, female role model for younger people. I think society needs more women like this.
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Given how taboo it is to admit this, Iām inclined to agree. It would be interesting to find a way to accurately study this
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Absolutely, and it breaks my heart. Iām not surprised that childfree, single women are reportedly the happiest.
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I have 2 friends. One I talk to daily. One I havenāt talked to in a few years. But Iād lay down in front of traffic for either of them, and I know theyād do the same for me.
I was NEVER going to have children. I come from a long line of child abuse and crazy that I was going to see end with me. But God laughs at our plans. Have one biological son, raised a step-daughter in my first marriage, and now have four step-sons in my second marriage. Itās expensive and time-consuming and NOTHING can worry you more than a kid, but I wouldnāt change a thing.
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Itās cool that you still got to end the multi generational cycle of negativity, only by being a parent vs not being one.
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I agree! If you would have told me 18 years ago, that I would have a 17yo right now, I would have laughed at you. Yetā¦ here I am 
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Considering that I will never engage in the activity required to produce children, I think Iām safe
With that said, Iād never discourage others from having children. I just donāt like it when ppl say that havign children is required to be āfulfilledā
Poor Anna 
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I donāt know if itās REQUIRED. I was 27 before I had my son, so I had some life experience. I know Iām much more fulfilled since having kids. But I donāt think you can miss what you never had.
Although I know youāre right about this ruffling feathers, Iāve never understood why people feel so invested in the choices of others when it comes to childbearing. People feeling that ābreedersā are crowding others out with their children - yes, but what about the possibility that one of these children will solve some problem important to everyone, or important to the person railing against breeding, e.g. solving an uncomfortable chronic health issue? People insisting that others will be unhappy, or have let down the group somehow, if they donāt have children? Why? What motivates this concern?
There are just so many contexts for which my motherās ādonāt worry about what others are eating, just keep your eyes on your own plateā is appropriate.
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Your mum is very wise
On a side note, Iāve had quite a few econ related conversations about having children with (mostly male) friends and was surprised that nearly all of them said they wanted children for personal reasons
Do you think that when the kids are in their 20ās that the parentās still feel this sense of regret? Perhaps a temporary regret, but I think it would be hard to raise a child from birth into adulthood and regret having them in the first place.
Sorry, can you explain this?
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You dont have to drink to make babies.
I was sober for 10 years before making mine.
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