Kids?

Obviously procreation is necessary for the continuation of our species.  Having children is unavoidable in many situations, but now with modern aids such as birth control or condoms, we can live without passing our genes off to another.  But why would you want to?  Why would anyone NOT want to have children?  I’ll tell you why.

I grew up always believing I would have babies.  I loved babies.  I was almost 7 when my youngest brother was born and I absolutely loved taking care of him and playing with him.  When I became a teenager and my oldest cousin started having babies, I lived with her in the summer and during college to help her with her 3 babies.  I have a very special bond with them because of this and I am forever grateful.  But recently, I have made the decision that I would not want to bring another life into this world.  I have multiple reasons for feeling this way, so I’d like to make my argument that not having children is going to be the best decision for me and my life.

First of all, when I was about 12 years old, I got my period for the first time.  I also mentioned previously that I have a genetic metabolic disorder.  Well, annually, I used to go to a local hospital each year to meet with a specialist and discuss my life, my diet, and for them to ultimately monitor my progress and measure how “normal” I am.  The year I got my period, that visit changed my life.  They decided that now that I am a “woman” it would be a good time to tell me that having healthy babies would almost be an impossibility due to my condition.  The excess phenylalanine (phe) levels in my blood would compromise the fetus’s development in the womb and chances for normalcy were slim.  Crash.  Devastation.  My dreams of ever becoming a mother were just torn from my heart and it took me probably about 15 years to become okay with this.  Since then, there have been many leaps in medical treatment and control of my disorder, and there have been healthy babies born while mothers with PKU are on a new pill that helps to regulate these phe levels.  Catch is, insurance rarely covers it and you have to take, on average, 30-40 pills a day.  Plus there is no guarantee that baby will be healthy.  I am among the oldest people who have been tracked since birth with this disorder, so not much medical knowledge precedes us regarding many aspects.  Regardless, healthy children would mean taking a gamble.

For a long time, I knew I would still try to have at least one baby.  I knew the pregnancy would be the hardest thing I’ve ever done and no results were guaranteed, but I was convinced that my desire to be a mother would supersede any cravings for something high in protein.  But then, life happened.

I became a “stepmother” to a 7 year old in 2008 when I started dating my ex.  We were together for 6 and a half years and I watched this beautiful young man grow into a teenager.  He is now 14 and I love him as if he were my own.  During this time, I have learned what a pain the ass it is to be a parent.  Constantly worrying and trying to make sure you are teaching them to make the right choices and do the right things.  Overall, it is a very controlling job.  I don’t like to exert control over people.  I used to be very bossy.  I was the oldest growing up in my house of 3 kids and I look back on when I was younger and realize just how bossy and domineering I was.  I probably got this from my mom, because that’s how she ran our household, but when it was brought to my attention, I didn’t like what I saw.  I don’t want to be the mom who says “because I said so!”  So after a few years of keeping myself in check, I have become a very easy-going person.  Easy-going isn’t going to cut it if you want your kid to turn out NOT a little asshole.  While this isn’t technically a reason I think one shouldn’t have kids, it certainly helped me to make my final decision.

The main reason I don’t feel bad about not wanting to have kids is the state of the world I would be bringing them into.  Yes, we have it easy.  We have technologies and luxuries our ancestors I’m sure couldn’t even dream about.  We are in a digital age where we can be located at the touch of a button and there is even talk of micro-chipping us, making all of our personal information attainable at the pass of a wand.  Sounds great?  Really?  Does it?  Control.  We are being controlled.  We live in this country with the illusion of freedom, not actual freedom.  Our government and leaders have distracted us with technology and entertainment so that we don’t see what is actually happening behind the scenes.  Voting booths are digital.  How difficult do you really think it would be to control the elections?  Do you really think you have a say?  You probably didn’t even know that taxing our income is not required by law.  But not only have we given up our own freedom, we have also enslaved and killed trillions upon trillions of animals and destroyed our precious Earth for the benefit of having the luxury of eating any type of meat or cheese we want at the expense of our own health.

Who is to say we even deserve to procreate?  Not only are we destroying our planet, but we are destroying ourselves.  It makes me sad now, all the innocent children brought into this world on a daily basis.  They will be taught what their parents know, which is mostly nothing.  They will continue to love television and video games and continue to be distracted by professional sports and entertainers.  They will perpetuate the enslavement of innocent animals who deserve to live just as freely in this world, if not more so, than we do.  So having children saddens me now.  If I did have children, I know they would be raised right and I would instill my beliefs in them, and they would feel my overwhelming love and joy for them and the beauty in this world, and they would become the most beautiful of souls.  But when they learn the truth, they will be just as depressed about the world as I am.  They will cry when faced with the ugly truth of the meat and dairy industry and they will become enraged when they learn that the police force actually has no interest in protecting them, just enforcing laws; laws created by people that government officials elect into office with probably no regard to the population’s actual vote and only have one idea in mind: Control.  Why would I want to do that to an innocent life?

So no babies for me.  Too bad, because I would probably be a great mother and raise brilliant children.  But not only am I not physically equipped to bring healthy babies into this world, but I love my unborn offspring just too damn much to subject them to the horrible truth that so many people ignore.  The human race as a whole, as far as I’m concerned, is a plague to the Earth.  Things need to change, harmony needs to be achieved and I don’t see that happening in this lifetime.  Maybe in my next life, there will be a balance between humans the rest of the world and there won’t be a fight for power and control woven into our very nature.  There is hope to become a mother in my next life.