[captain_perl]

Most women in a relationship will emphatically tell you when they want to get engaged, married or have kids.

They also have a biological clock to have kids before they're 35, and most listen to that clock.

Men don't have that clock, so there's different types and levels of motivation.

In my case, I wasn't interested in having kids until my late 40s, when the circumstances were convincing (responsible partner, as late in life as reasonably possible.)

Although I prefer being around adults, I understand that kids are doing their job when they require attention. I find my "clone" to be a plus overall, though expensive.

Career-wise, I vaguely thought having kids would be an advantage somehow, but I was incorrect. In the USA, companies don't care about employees ("at will employment"), and the same is true about your family.

[derekp7]

That last part depends on the type of employer. In my case, as a male, I started to see a huge improvement in promotions and pay increases once I became a "family man" (although in my case, I'm not married to my partner, and she came with kids -- but it was always treated as a family unit).

[captain_perl]

> I started to see a huge improvement

I'd appreciate if you can expand on that a little more. How do co-workers know? How is it acknowledged?