To Have or Not to Have...Babies, That Is

I've always been a bit of a rebel, a "black sheep" if you will, going against a lot of the "norms" I've felt pushed upon me growing up. And there were a lot of "norms," people always telling you what they thought you should be doing. It ranged everywhere from, "don't you want to be a lawyer like your mother," "you're not supposed to take the architecture class because colleges prefer seeing four years of science instead of three years and one architecture class," "why would you want to move away from family," and then my favorite as of late, "so when are you two going to settle down?"

Settle down...I love that one. It's a bit of a backhanded compliment, really. Apparently we are a good enough couple that we look like we belong together, we're "at that age" where we're supposed to want to be married and looking at a family down the line, and well, that's just what people do, right?  

But at the same time, it's also a slight scolding for not being where people think you should be.

But maybe that's not the case anymore, or at least, the "not anymore" trend is growing.

Whether you like the concept or not, people are starting to reject the idea of settling down...at least when it comes to the "having kids" part. I read the Yahoo!news article on the No Baby Boom, and was intrigued. Having also taken part in the movie DINKs, a story about a couple who chose not to have children but live in a child-based suburb, the story pulled on a couple of different strings of mine.  

Apparently, there is a growing global trend of people making the conscious decision to forgo having children. Completely. They are childless couples, and according to the surveys done, it is not just a U.S. trend.

More and more people, especially because of the influx of people moving to cities, are choosing to not have children. Some of their arguments include the desire to have more income, more freedom, more choice and more enjoyment of one another. And I'm not saying that's necessarily my personal opinion, but the article does an excellent job of highlighting the various survey findings. And it's not always just about the money. And who knows whether kids will be in the cards or not it the future, but if they're not, I'm absolutely OK with making a really great aunt.