Weasked youthe reasons behind your choice, and here are some of the best ones we heard.

Because it’s such a personal matter, most “arguments” were, well, personal.

But there were many common themes in the threads.

Kids: You Either Love Them and Love Raising Them…

I live for the time I get to spend with my wife and young sons.

I love sharing my hobbies with them (“My daddy can fix

anything!

)

and watching them grow and develop their own interests (our house is filled with trains now).

I love you, daddy.”

That’s it, right there.

That’s why you do it.

Nothing’s more important in my life than my family and my role as a dad.

I love my kids fiercely, and they have taught me a great deal about life.

Plus you have the perfect excuse to eat ice cream almost all of the time and play with legos.

But I know for sure that I’ll live HAPPIER with one.

I’ve hated kids since I

was

a kid.

I give them evil stares in the grocery store when the parents aren’t looking.

I think that, without exception, all babies are ugly all the time.

I’ve never heard of anyone rebelling against their fun uncle.

I do love children.

I knew that someday I would have some of my own.

Don’t get me wrong; I adore children.

But whenever I thought about kids it was always “10 years from now in the distant future.”

When I started to think, would I want one now?

I would always mentally respond with “hell no!”

It wasn’t an easy thing to adjust to.

The species is doing OK. do we really need any more?

[….] Too many parents, I feel, have children to fill some hole in their lives.

If you are going to have children, double-check it is about them, not about you.

I’m always saddened when my smart, caring friends say they’re not having kids.

They’re depriving the world of countless smart, caring people who can improve things in the future.

).JTSsays:

I guess my only real advice is to really think hard about it.

It seems like a lot of people have kids because that’s just what people do.

Whatever choice you make, do it intentionally.

Don’t have kids just to have them.

Don’t not have them just because you’re afraid it’s too hard.

Perhaps a good litmus test would be to spend more time around more types of kids.

So many kids are like little monsters, and it sounds exhausting!

However, my fiancee’s brothers both have kids, and they’re pretty amazing.

There’s really no right or wrong answerjust careful, deliberate choices.