Silentpony said:
I'd ask what's the worst that happens if your clock runs out? You've lived a life you wanted, enjoyed yourself and didn't let society define your passion or enjoyment?
Oh the pain? The angst?
Maybe its different with guys, but I'm more than happy with never having kids or settling down. Just doesn't strike me as something I'd enjoy...
Depending on the area, family, ext, a lot of women, once they hit late 20s, early 30s and increasingly so the closer they get to 40, start getting bombarded with "So when are you going to have kids!????"
Guys, theoretically can have children whenever they want[footnote]though the risks for birth defects, ext increase just the same, a lot of people don't consider that[/footnote]. This takes some of the societal pressure off of them. For women it's pretty accepted, you don't have them by 40, you don't have them at all.
I don't generally click well with children and up until fairly recently I considered myself child-free [footnote](Now it's like okay maybe 1 or 2 when we're ready, can we adopt?)[/footnote]. If I turned out to be infertile because of some medical defect, I wouldn't go stealing babies from hospitals and I don't think it would make that much of an impact on my life personally. That being said, taking a potentially child-free stance has caused some... interesting responses.
I have been called selfish, I am regularly told "If you don't have one, you're going to regret it."
One time, I told my boss I was feeling sick in the morning and his response was "You don't think you might be pregnant do you?" there was little reason other than feeling sick (in the morning) for that conclusion.
After a while ... it does get to you. My SO and I are pretty set on the idea that we will not be having kids right now, if I had to get an abortion, the absolute only person who would know is my SO. God help me if any of our parents found out we aborted a grandchild.
I know ultimately it's my decision and I can, with little regret tell them all to kindly fuck off. It just gets tiring.