Your Family's Politics Is a Valid Reason to Remain Childfree
So much about the choice to have zero kids is inherently political. You only need a quick glance at our J.D. Vance archive to know that. Everything from abortion rights to a future shaped by climate change to public school funding is simultaneously political and potentially influential on one's decision about whether to have kids.
As a result, when we have deep political disagreements with our families of origin, that, too, can affect our decision about whether to remain childfree.
I am writing this from the United States, but there are many countries around the world which are similarly politically polarized, and in which political differences are creating deep rifts or entire breaks between family members. As divisions become more extreme, it's not just about holding opposing policy stances, but about holding entirely different sets of values.
That could have meaningful consequences for the decision about whether to have children.
It could mean that you cannot rely on family support without exposing your children to values that you don't share.
It could mean exposing your children to bigotry if you want to maintain a relationship with your family.
It could mean that whatever tenuous relationship you are able to sustain before children would someday force you to choose between your parents, siblings, and/or extended family and your children, in order to shield your children from political beliefs or activities that are intolerable to you — which is something a child may not understand.
Vast political differences within a family are difficult for adults to navigate; they can be traumatic for children.
It's something to consider, among all the other things. If you take a long, hard look at what it would mean to bring a child into the world with your family, or without your family, and neither looks particularly desirable, that's a valid reason to remain childfree.
And you're definitely not alone in making that decision, for that reason.
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