<p>Do any of you actually know in your heart that a child of yours is most likely to not want children and in fact, would be much better off not having them?
I feel this way about my oldest son. And frankly, it wouldn’t bother me that much. I can picture him with a strong mate and no children.</p>
<p>I know my first two never want children, and they are adults now so I doubt that will change. My 3rd has Aspergers and I cannot imagine him having children. My 5th is 5 yrs old and can barely speak. I am not sure if he will ever be in a place to have kids. I think my 10 yr old and my other one will have children one day. My daughter loves to play dress up and with dolls. My 10 yr old did when he was that age too and he likes little ones a lot. I really do not care if my children ever have children. They cost a lot and take a lot of energy. If someone is not in to it, then they aren’t.</p>
<p>I anticipate that both of my sons will have children. And that makes me very happy.</p>
<p>I don’t really know, and it doesn’t matter to me.
While eldest is the age that I was when I had her younger sister, she is firm that she & her husband do not want children.
There are lots of ways to have children in their lives.</p>
<p>I have 2 kids and 5 nieces or nephews over 18. None have kids, none express ever wanting them. A couple of the 30-year-olds have long-term partners, a couple have a serious GF/BF, the rest don’t even date. They all seem happy and satisfied with their lives, and it’s really not up to us parents what they want to do regarding kids. My 14 yo wants several kids-has always babysat, helped out with kids at church, teaches them in the summers and wants to become a teacher. I don’t see that changing. I hope I get to meet some of her kids one day.</p>
<p>Oldest girl doesn’t think she wants kids. She’s the artistic, creative type and I think she’s thinking she won’t want to devote the time/energy required. While she could change her mind, I tend to think she won’t. She does want a life-partner, though, and that can be tricky, as it seems most young people do want them at some point.
Son and DIL do want children eventually, and they’ll be great parents. They have a new puppy and they’ve done an amazing job training him. I hope they aren’t thrown when their kids don’t respond as quickly or consistently. :)</p>
<p>One child will have kids. He already talks about a family and spending time with his kids. The other I am not sure about . He would make a great dad, but I am not sure having children is on his list of things to do. It will depend on his wife—if he marries. He loves girls, but I don’t see him feeling compelled to have a life partner. I think his family oriented brother will include him in holidays, at least I hope he will. </p>
<p>OP, you may be surprised by how things turn out. I don’t think anyone would have predicted I would have kids. At some ages I wouldn’t have predicted it either! I realized I wanted a family in my late twenties, really wanted kids and decided not to miss out on this. I had a plan in case I didn’t marry. I think people expected my sibs would marry and have kids, and they never did. </p>
<p>I have relatives that never married let alone having children. Growing up I kind of suspect it but now I’m confirmed. Both have bf/gf at one time. So I think in the end it’s ok.
I have one that most likely will have lots of kids, and the other most likely will have one only. I don’t see her having multiple kids. I’m find with that.</p>
<p>I was 30 when I wanted to have a child. Of my 3, I think 2 will definitely have kids and one may or may not. All three are early to mid twenties and none are in a relationship so who knows.</p>
<p><em>One of those kids here</em>
I would love to have children. Maybe 4-7. I just really want to go through the experience of raising my kids, helping them through school and college, telling them stories of my childhood, giving them advice, and just being their for them. My dad was never really a parent per say and I want to give what my childhood experience should have been to one of my kids. I think about it all the time. I don’t think I would even mind the occasional fights that parents and children get into. I just want to one day have the opportunity to provide for my kids. I think that stretch of years will be some of the best of my life.</p>
<p>Will be surprised if S1 has kids. He’s 27 and doesn’t even have a gf (by choice). He’s so involved w/ his job and knows it’s tough on family life. He’s a Naval Officer.</p>
<p>S2 is 24 and never had a serious gf. I believe he’ll find the right girl someday and will prob. have kids.</p>
<p>I know both of my sons want kids as they’ve talked about coaching their teams. My brother never had kids, and that absolutely was the right choice for him.</p>
<p>My D has never been a “little kid” person and has stated since she was quite young that she does not want kids. She is not going to change her mind. I kind of hoped she would change, but this is who she is and I have accepted that and come to terms with it. It’s fine. It’s her life. She is happy. Her house will be full of rescue animals! She is in a serious relationship and knows that BF’s mother will put the pressure on her, but she is ready for it.</p>
<p>I believe that S wants a wife and family, although he is not in a relationship right now. But he has mentioned “someday when I have a family…” So I will look forward to that as well.</p>
<p>Both of my sons openly talk about how much they look forward to having kids some day. They are 24 and 20, so not anytime soon! They both think kids are “cool” – in other words, “cute” and they both think they will be great dads. </p>
<p>Both boys are in good, healthy relationships right now. I do think S1 and his girlfriend will marry – they are very serious and he has talked about it. She loves kids and I’m sure she would not date someone who didn’t want a family. S2 and his GF are still in college so a bit too young to predict their future.</p>
<p>Even in my mid to late twenties, I said I didn’t want to have kids. Then I had a “scare” and thought, “Hmm, maybe it would be OK!” My oldest son was born at ten minutes past midnight on my 30th birthday.</p>
<p>Since that son has mental illness, it’s hard to picture him getting married - he doesn’t even have any friends. But you never know! I think the other two kids will have children one day, though.</p>
<p>On DH side of the family, having children was the exception rather than the rule. Only 1 in 4 siblings had kids, and of that generation, only DH had a child of 3 siblings. Our DS will have kids but we wouldn’t put any pressure on him. The young lady that he has been dating for three years has no desire to be a mother, so we shall see how that plays out. </p>
<p>My daughter and son in law are not having children. They made that decision and I respect it. Not sure what will happen with my son. I assume he will at some point. He’s been in a good relationship, but I don’t count on anything. I feel like there is something wrong with me because I don’t have any desire to have grandchildren and all my friends are salivating at the thought- or have them already. My husband’s older son has 2 kids and one on the way, but I rarely see them since thy live in another state. I know I would adore the kids if they existed, but I just remember how hard it is to raise kids, and it all just worries me.</p>
<p>My one daughter has always wanted kids and has arranged her life accordingly. If she isn’t blessed with biological children, I believe she will adopt. Her boyfriend feels the same way and I think they will be amazing parents. My second D could go either way. It’s not a governing desire in her life, but she is in a committed relationship with a young man for whom it is. My D is very ambitious and the boyfriend has a good job but in a more flexible field. They would like to have children someday, but both agree that it will be the father who is the primary parent. I desperately want grandchildren and I think I will have some with D1. My son? Who knows. I’m not ready to let him stop being my baby yet.</p>
<p>This is a somewhat timely topic in my family. I have a relative who was married a couple of years ago. I have always said that she is the least maternal person I have ever met in my life. She has an excellent career, good marriage and a happy life, but for some reason, she has decided that the world will end if she doesn’t become pregnant. Unfortunately, there are some possibly-insurmountable fertility issues. In my heart I wonder if God doesn’t know what he is doing because absent some major epiphany, this person really shouldn’t have kids. Which doesn’t mean her life isn’t valuable and important. It is. But not everyone should have children and not everyone should have children without doing some personal work on themselves first.</p>
<p>Personally, as much as I hate to say it, if any of my kids really didn’t want children, I would rather seem them remain child-free by choice than bring an unwanted child into the world.</p>
<p>Well I’m not sure if my three sons 20,16 & 13 will have kids. Although over the years they have each said at one time or another “Well when I get married and have kids I’m going to blah, blah blah…” sometimes it’s because they like something we done and other times it’s when they don’t. :-@ </p>
<p>We have 8 married nieces and nephews, 7 of them have children. The 8th just got married a few months ago. My oldest D just became engaged. She may have kids eventually. She never babysat or showed much interest in babies, but I was that way too. My S at 22 has never dated or shown any interest in dating anyone of either sex, but who knows what the future holds. My H was 36 when we had our first child. I think younger D (19) would like kids, but she has never dated anyone yet either, so it will probably be a while, which is good! I will be fine with whatever choice they make regarding children.</p>