Damn, that's almost as bad as the reason my ex-boyfriend gave me: "By not having biological children, you're helping to bring about Idiocracy, because stupid people aren't going to stop breeding any time soon. I want you to help create a ruling class."

Well. The way we're ruining the planet. I would rather bet that in 10,000 years people won't be around.

Or maybe narcissism is blithely reproducing despite those doubts, because you care less about your offspring's quality of life than the fulfillment you'll get out of reproducing?

So what is your strategy at this point? Are you male or female? If male, I'd think spreading your seed around as much as possible would be a pretty decent way to keep your legacy going.

What difference does it make what's in your genetics? In a decade or so everyone will have the same plastic face and body, so it doesn't matter what you looked like when you were born. No one is happy with who they are, so it'll be a never-ending cycle of self-hate and taking it out on innocent children.

Or she could write a book?

as is having kids so they will take care of your geriatric ass

overpopulating the world is doing in humanity. selfish people who cant see past their own egos are actively helping to kill humanity.

Legacies are for people who are afraid of death.

If you have a legacy worth remembering, your kids will have very little to do with it.

Exactly. Aspiring to have a child-free life is only selfish *if you have kids*. There aren't little me's waiting in the starry ether for me to selflessly bring them into existence.

If you can still read from that soapbox up there, you might notice that there was an actual question in my post. And not a rhetorical one.

... and we're supposed to care why? We're dead, what difference does it make it our specific genetic legacies exist thousands of years from now or not? Y'know, aside from vanity.

I was scared away from the option for years after working wilderness therapy where about half the population seems to be adopted. Just lacked confidence that I could overcome the pitfalls the parents demonstrated. And then I realized my wife and I are compassionate people who will undoubtedly make mistakes but will…

My husband and I have decided against birth children for similar reasons and I just got an IUD in my late 30s so we're pretty set on it. If we feel more of a desire to parent in the future, we are all about domestic adoption.

Yup. If you feel all the feelings above and still have a desire to parent, that's the way to go. I wish more people thought of it as an option.

That is also my plan, along with Mr. Ferret. We both want kids, but because of various factors (health and genetic issues, overpopulation, social conscience, whatever), we decided that when the time comes, we're going to adopt.

Me too! My sister just adopted, and it opened my eyes to how many children deserve a better chance than the one they were born into.

Best thing to ever happen to me, EVER, (and I've had a pretty sweet life) was to have been adopted out of Foster care when I was 15 months old. Please do that when you are ready and able!

My plan, eventually, is to adopt. Rather than add to the population myself, I would like to give a home to a child who otherwise would not have one.