Does anyone else NOT want kids?

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  • halliedoll
    halliedoll Posts: 171
    I definitely would much rather just adopt a puppy. lol. Kids drain you financially, emotionally, physically, mentally, and everytother way possible. It takes WAY too long to reap the rewards of parent hood. Plus, kids go through SO many phases and cause parents so much stress and grief and anger. I mean, plus, the responsibility of raising a kid right and making sure they end up ok is just wayyy too much. Adopt a dog with a long life span :happy:
  • halliedoll
    halliedoll Posts: 171
    I totally agree with xjeanie, just adopt a puppy :D
  • impyimpyaj
    impyimpyaj Posts: 1,073 Member
    Hated kids before I had kids. I have 4 now. I still don't like kids.
    I just have a higher tolerance for my own. :wink:

    Ha! This is so true. I really don't like other people's children. I'm good with kids, and I can babysit for people, but I don't really enjoy it. I like my own pretty well most of the time, but otherwise, I don't like kids. I especially am not a fan of babies. You can't reason with them. They're completely bizarre. I tolerated the baby stage with both of mine, but I felt clueless most of the time until they started talking.
  • ShilohMaier
    ShilohMaier Posts: 135
    My MIL actually told me I'd taken away her only reason for living when I said I was't going to have children. I wanted to say "so you'll be dead soon? Yay!!" But I just said "I told your son when he proposed if he ever thought he might want children, he'd better go ask someone else because I NEVER wanted children.

    But... I have a rare corneal disease, and it wouldn't go into remission because of the hormone in my bc pill. The specialist said I needed to switch to a pill with a different hormone. And in about a 4 day window of starting the new pill and quitting the old one, my daughter was conceived. I love her more than anything I ever thought possible- but I have always known myself well enough to know I would not like being a mother, and I was right. I do not like motherhood at all- it has nothing to do with how much I love my daughter, but my stress level is through the roof 24/7.

    p.s.- that psychopath MIL of mine isn't allowed anywhere near my little girl. :bigsmile:
  • prshacklock74
    prshacklock74 Posts: 5
    You're not alone in this one. In my entire life, I've never had a desire to have children. All through my 20's people kept saying I would change my mind, but I'm 37 and I never have. When I met the man who eventually became my husband, we had a serious discussion about it. Turns out, he felt the same way as I did. We've been married 7 years now, and so far, no regrets for our decision. I do like children too, but I just don't really have the desire to have any myself.
  • cakeums
    cakeums Posts: 228 Member
    I had one child when I was 19 and she turned out to be such a handful that I didn't want any more. I got married when she was 7 and at first though I might want another with my husband but decided not to when my daughter's behavior got worse. Anyway, when I sent her to live with her dad, I was pretty content with the thought of never having another. Somehow though, despite birth control, I am now 8 weeks pregnant with my first child. I was pretty shocked about it but am happy to be bearing his first child. It will also be interesting to see which one of us this child looks like and acts like. I am looking forward to it. If this is a boy, I am having my tubes tied right afterward to make sure there are no more oopsies, but I'm happy about this oops :). Still, for all those who know they don't want any then that is their right. I would advise having a tubal ligation or having a vasectomy to be 100% sure that no oopsies happen :) though, and so you don't have to worry about the side effects associated with other forms of birth control.

    Wow, you sound really loving. So that daughter you shipped off to live with her dad no longer counts as having been your first child? Sounds like she's better off with her dad.
  • breezymom81
    breezymom81 Posts: 499 Member
    I really thought I was alone in feeling this way. I'm glad to see there are more SANE people out there!

    It seems like all the girls I graduated HS with have kids now! I'm only 22! They are all nuts! I'm sorry, but I want to do something with my life and be more than just a "mom". But they might think it's so important and impressive, but at this age it's just trashy!

    I never want kids.

    Well- then call me trashy! I had my son at 20, yes I was married and had good job! Then I had my daughter at 23 - again still married (gasp....same father) and opened a bussiness that made a profit for 8 years until I decided to change things! Now I have a10 year old and a 7 year old- both staight A students a husband and a wonderful job!! Some times I am so trashy I scare myself!

    I love both my kids more then anything - always knew I wanted kids and adore them!!! I support anyone brave enough to say they do not want kids- cause hey they are a game changer and don't think anyone needs to have them but I wanted them and could never imagaine being with out my babies!!

    Before you go calling names take a look in the mirror~ only trashy people judge others choices!!!
  • stang_girl88
    stang_girl88 Posts: 234 Member
    I do not want kids. I have said that since I was a kid and I am 35 now. My husband doesnt want any either- I am glad my inlaws are in another province or I am sure I would hear about having grandbabies. I am the youngest of four girls and only one of us has wanted/had kids. I enjoyed my niece and nephew, I would take them places and whatnot, but to have them full time no way. I like my freedom way too much to be tied down with a kid. My dogs and helping homeless animals is where my heart is at :)
  • dancecentral
    dancecentral Posts: 50 Member
    I did when I was younger but I struggled a lot with addictions, depression and dysfunctional relationships and could never get my life together and didn't feel it would be would be fair to a kid.. now I'm stable but almost 40 so I doubt I'm going to have any now.. and I'm ok with that..
  • mgmlap
    mgmlap Posts: 1,377 Member
    I believe it to be my holy duty to help God populate the Earth. I am looking for a good Christian woman to join me in this journey to lose weight and have children.

    First and foremost..rather than populating the earth..you need to take of the little ones that are already here...thats what we did..coudnt "populate" the earth..so we took in what was already here..and you cant tell my daughters werent here from the get-go..no one believes that they are adopted..cause they look so much like me..I only have one answer.."God is Great!"
    But then, they won't be my children.

    wow...all i can say is wow.. so my daughters are not mine..wow...now that is ignorance!
  • lilRicki
    lilRicki Posts: 4,555 Member
    I don't want kids...I've let it be known to everyone in my life that kids are not my thing. I'll love your kids, but I don't want my own. I hear "you'll change your mind" or "what happens if you have a whoopsie"...but even with all the babies in my life, I still don't have baby fever
  • Excellentia
    Excellentia Posts: 182
    Somedays I say NO, but then one of them calls or comes by the house. :laugh:

    On the real, tell your MIL it's a personal decision between you and your husband. Maybe one day you may change your mind. And maybe one day you won't. WHATEVER you DO decide though, is between you and your husband and really NONE of her business. If she's disappointed, life will go on and so will she. It may sound mean, but there's some REAL in that REALITY.
  • 2FattyXFatty4
    2FattyXFatty4 Posts: 215 Member
    So I just turned 28 and I am married. I have always said "kids aren't my thing". My husband is on the fence and might like one but knows how I feel. I suppose many Mother in Laws & mothers are this way where they will constantly talk about babies or ask about when I plan on having kids, since I am getting to the age where I would need to decide soon. How do you say that you don't want them? My MIL keeps talking about my husband holding our new niece as "good practice", but I don't have the heart to tell her how I feel! Any advice?

    I broke up with my former fiance over this. I don't want kids .. .he knew this and claimed to be okay with it. Then it became a problem because he wanted one after all. I don't want kids. At all. It was tough because I loved him, but there was no compromising on that. Now he's married to a woman who'll give him what he wants. Good.
  • daffodilsoup
    daffodilsoup Posts: 1,972 Member
    You're not alone in this one. In my entire life, I've never had a desire to have children. All through my 20's people kept saying I would change my mind, but I'm 37 and I never have. When I met the man who eventually became my husband, we had a serious discussion about it. Turns out, he felt the same way as I did. We've been married 7 years now, and so far, no regrets for our decision. I do like children too, but I just don't really have the desire to have any myself.

    I feel like this is such an important point that it needs to be emphasized. When people find out that I don't plan on having children, they always ask "but don't you LIKE kids?"

    I mean, yeah, I like kids I guess, sometimes they do cute things. I also like llamas, but that doesn't mean I want one of my own.
  • LindaCWy
    LindaCWy Posts: 463 Member
    I LOVE kids, love them. I also LOVE returning them to their parents when they cry, poop, whine, *****, hurt themselves, etc. That isn't to say I wouldn't take a bullet for my nephew because I would, I just don't see myself donating my entire life to a tiny person. If it was something my husband really really wanted I might re-consider but he doesn't so we all good. It's nice to see I'm not alone, people make me feel like I'm a horrible person because I don't want a baby.
  • chicago_dad
    chicago_dad Posts: 357
    Don't have kids.
  • secretlobster
    secretlobster Posts: 3,566 Member
    I kind of want kids, but not yet. I'm 29 and before this year i really couldn't have cared less. But this is one thing that you and your husband can't not agree upon... He is fortunate that he doesn't have a "biological clock" really but I think that if his mother is talking about you two having kids, he needs to be the one to tell her that her comments are out of line. But even so, I think you should both try to ignore her comments until you've decided as a couple that you're going to be a family of two, or if perhaps having kids MIGHT be in your future (at 28, you do have time to change your mind IF that's what you want to do... I would just hold off on telling his mother "no way no how" unless that's something you've agreed upon as a couple)
  • alikrorp225
    alikrorp225 Posts: 54
    It's up to your husband to talk to his mother about the whole "no grandkids" thing. When I had my first child, at 23, my MIL was holding her and trying to make her lay her head on MIL's shoulder. My daughter was 6 mos. old and was all about looking around and cried when my MIL tried to force her head down. When my daughter cried, my MIL called her a "spoiled brat." Now, every fiber of my being wanted to come down on my MIL, but I simply pulled my husband aside and told him he better handle it. He did and then we left.

    If your husband is on the fence, aka maybe thinking he wants a child now, you both need to go to counseling and sort through these feelings with an unbiased mediator. Like you said, he knew how you felt before you married, but it's not really fair to you to have to rehash it again and again with him AND deal with the constant barrage from your MIL. That's why I suggest counseling. It gives you a fair playing field to deal once and for all with the issue. Then, HE needs to talk to his mother about your joint decision to not have children.

    I agree that NO one should get pregnant if they're not willing to either a)love the child unconditionally or b)give the child up for adoption. I applaud you for recognizing your feelings now. :)
  • Jem_Girl
    Jem_Girl Posts: 102 Member
    How do you say that you don't want them?

    Very bluntly. My family doesn't even bother suggesting it since I've been saying No Kids since I decided in first grade that I didn't want to be a teacher anymore (when I discovered at the tender age of 7 that kids are brats). When someone asks if my husband and I have any or plan to, I'll say "No, and we don't plan on it. Kids aren't for me and he already has one who lives with her mother." If they ask why not or start to gush about the wonder of procreation, I'll reply that I'm self-aware enough to realize that I love my free time and don't want to take care of something else and that a pet is probably the extent of what I could feed and water. When they try to tell me that being a mother changes you, I'll point out that it obviously doesn't change for everyone or there wouldn't be abandoned babies, and I don't think I want to risk the rest of my early life's free time on the chance that I might suddenly prefer wiping snot off someone's face to playing video games.

    Of course, my MIL isn't the most nurturing mother figure anyway and she already has the one grand-daughter, so I never really had to say anything past "I don't want kids" to her. It's more dentists, new doctors, etc. who feel the need to make small talk. Some day I'll perfect the art of saying "none of your business".

    Edit: I decided to add in that you should never cave on your "no children" stance unless that's truly what you want for yourself. The other person in the relationship should not be part of your decision as they may not always be part of the picture. My husband's ex-girlfriend wanted a child when they were dating and while he didn't really care one way or the other, he wanted to give her what she wanted. He assumed they'd be a happy little family together. While he loves his daughter, he knows now that he was young and made a stupid decision at the time... particularly after she ditched him 3 years later and hasn't found a stable relationship since.

    Oh funny story... after a 4 week vacation with my husband's daughter last summer (2 weeks away from home, 2 weeks at home), I went to my gyno and asked about having my tubes tied. Apparently she won't do it because I haven't had any kids yet... :grumble: Maybe I just need to point out to her that if I ever decided to have kids, I'd adopt.
  • niclagi
    niclagi Posts: 177 Member
    Nope.
    I'm allergic


    This is what my husband says!! Sometimes he'll use "it's a medical condition". People judge less. Neither of us wanted children which is one of the many reasons we are perfectly suited for each other. I had one lady try to convince me weekly with religion that I had to have children. It was brutal especially since she would complain about her adult daughter on a daily basis. Way to convince me. LOL.
  • lunatikchik
    lunatikchik Posts: 30 Member
    Flat out tell them you DO NOT want children, I had to do that to my mom, years ago, My husband and I have been married 18 years, and still no KIDS and do not want them. That was a decision we made before we even got engaged and has not changed. For us that was the right decision.
    To me either you want children or you don't.
  • jesusHchris
    jesusHchris Posts: 1,405 Member
    I made a decision not to have children when I was much younger. I'm fairly convinced that my bloodline is cursed with a bit of crazy that I just don't feel comfortable passing down the chain. I'm still on board with that decision and don't see myself ever changing my mind. I even went as far as having a doctor guarantee this for me in my early 20s.

    I also really like life without children. I can uproot whenever I want, own cool things, and travel as much as I'd like. I'm still pretty young, though, so maybe that is just a temporary mindset.

    I've thought about it a lot, lately, and I'm not completely against raising a child - whether that be adoption or if I happen to fall for a chick who has already popped one out. I'd like to think I could be a much better father than mine was to me. Also, I really feel like there are a lot of unwanted children out there who could use a loving parent, if that was something I decided to do.

    And here ends the most boring forum posting I have ever typed.
  • lika50
    lika50 Posts: 140 Member
    I'm 34. I don't want kids, have never wanted kids and, more than likely, will never change my mind about the matter. No offense to those with children, it's just a personal decision that my husband and I have made together.

    What I find a lot is that people become offended when I tell them we don't want children. Like, they get MAD. Even after I stress to them that I don't necessarily hate children, it's just that we'd prefer to be on our own. With our dog. (When I bring the dog into the convo their lids usually really flip.) Also, when people hear our decision, they call us selfish. Eh, so be it.

    To each their own.
  • christinehetz80
    christinehetz80 Posts: 490 Member


    I mean, yeah, I like kids I guess, sometimes they do cute things. I also like llamas, but that doesn't mean I want one of my own.

    now llamas I may sign up for.

    My husband and I are childfree by choice. We didn't want children when we got married, we waited through our 20s to see if we would change our mind. Everyone does say that. We are now in our 30s. I'm 32, he is 39 and still no desire for them. The problem we had wasn't our family pressuring us. They have respected our decision. Its been socializing with other couples. We ended up joining meetup a few years ago and then 2 years ago started a childfree couples meetup (swear we are not swingers) and its been AWESOME! We have met so many other childfree couples that have more time to devote to socializing than you do when you have children. I think more couples are choosing to not have children.

    As to what to say to the family or friends or strangers even. I personally always say "no children for us in foreseeable future" I don't feel I need to explain anything more than that.
  • cakeums
    cakeums Posts: 228 Member
    I really thought I was alone in feeling this way. I'm glad to see there are more SANE people out there!

    It seems like all the girls I graduated HS with have kids now! I'm only 22! They are all nuts! I'm sorry, but I want to do something with my life and be more than just a "mom". But they might think it's so important and impressive, but at this age it's just trashy!

    I never want kids.

    I'm sorry, but first off, wanting kids does not make a person insane any more than not wanting them makes a person insane. Both are valid choices. Secondly, there is a lot a woman can do with life after kids than just be a mom. I know some women who have had kids who have also done some pretty incredible, amazing things in life that have nothing to do with their children. Third, I had my first not long after I turned 23 and there was nothing trashy about it whatsoever. My husband I tried for a year and a half before I was pregnant with her, and I suffered four miscarriages in the process. Our daughter was long-waited and very loved, even with having relatively young parents.

    It's a good thing you didn't follow your friends' example, because it sounds like you're far too immature to be a parent anyway.
  • Oliviamarie05
    Oliviamarie05 Posts: 528 Member
    I really thought I was alone in feeling this way. I'm glad to see there are more SANE people out there!

    It seems like all the girls I graduated HS with have kids now! I'm only 22! They are all nuts! I'm sorry, but I want to do something with my life and be more than just a "mom". But they might think it's so important and impressive, but at this age it's just trashy!

    I never want kids.

    I'm sorry, but first off, wanting kids does not make a person insane any more than not wanting them makes a person insane. Both are valid choices. Secondly, there is a lot a woman can do with life after kids than just be a mom. I know some women who have had kids who have also done some pretty incredible, amazing things in life that have nothing to do with their children. Third, I had my first not long after I turned 23 and there was nothing trashy about it whatsoever. My husband I tried for a year and a half before I was pregnant with her, and I suffered four miscarriages in the process. Our daughter was long-waited and very loved, even with having relatively young parents.

    It's a good thing you didn't follow your friends' example, because it sounds like you're far too immature to be a parent anyway.

    I agree with cakeums on this sentiment. I'm 22 and my fiance is 23. Yes, we are waiting for me to finish my diploma first before we start trying, but we would love to have kids right now. We travel, go camping, own our own house, have all our quads/trailer, are planning on our trip to Italy (as I've been there and want to take him to see it), I have my first certificate in medical transcription and health administration. I'm expaning my schooling and my fiance is a fully certified heavy duty technician.

    Should we have kids right now, it would be in a loving home. I don't think our choice to have kids at such a young age makes us trashy. I want more in my life than just being a 'mom', that's why you incorporate your children in to your life. Just because you have kids doesn't mean you have to stop living.
  • mmarcy7
    mmarcy7 Posts: 227 Member
    I have kids, but my sister and most of my friends don't. Some ended up having kids in their late 30s. Don't let people making you feel bad for your decision. I was married 5 yrs before we decided to have kids and I heard it a lot too. Just give them a vague "We'll see" when they ask about when you are having kids. It's really no ones business but you and your husband. And I wouldn't count on the it's different when they are your own thing. I love my kids of course, but some days... And I have never really cared for children in general, still don't. As they get older and we can do more stuff together and have conversations I enjoy parenting more. But I wouldn't fall for that "Once you have your own baby, everything will be different" bs. I personally think people with kids who get mad at those who don't want kids are just jealous they didn't get roped into it too, lol. And just so no one jumps all over me I am an awesome mom, just honest about not "loving" parenting. I can see myself being just as happy without kids. Cats and dogs are good too, and easier.
  • leahartmann
    leahartmann Posts: 415
    I´m going on 39 and have no children. No particular reason, just never felt like it. My husband like children a lot and wanted some- but knew that it was not going to be with me! I had a choice, dogs or children. Now we have two wonderfull siberian husky.... If I had a "whoops" I would probably be a tiger for them, loving them. But I didn´t. And I have no biological klock ticking. None! Maybe you chance your mind, maybe you don´t. That´s up to you. It´s your choise!
  • zombilishious
    zombilishious Posts: 1,250 Member
    So ... I decided I don't want kids. Who's taking them off my hands?
  • christine24t
    christine24t Posts: 6,063 Member
    There is a good series of articles on Slate.com about why people chose not to have children. Very interesting!
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