[IAmBroom]

> The choice to become a parent, or to not become a parent, is one of those choices in life that requires a leap of faith.

No, it requires sticking one's gonads inside another's gonads and agitating briefly, during a not-rare selection window.

We don't come from a long line of voluntary parents. I had zero of them, directly.

I still agree that being a parent is an amazing, life-transforming event that has gigantic potential upsides. But it also has gigantic potential downsides, including financial ruin, lifelong misery, and/or sudden death (for at least one of the parents).

All I'm saying is: most of our ancestors didn't choose anything when they rubbed cloacae.

[PorterBHall]

Fair point. We _currently_ exist in a time of choice, but that is only due to the recent availability of effective birth control methods. Some choose to do it the old fashioned way and let the fates decide when and if they become parents.