I can only give my take on the matter, Rustee. I had always said to myself, that if I hadn't had children before I was 30, I wouldn't have any (conscious decision that it would take at least 20 years to see children through to independence, and didn't want to be too old by the time that happened). No partner at that stage, and I wasn't going to try raising children on my own. Then, got type 1 diabetes just a few months after my 30th birthday, had to leave New Zealand and return to UK, as I could no longer get work permit (couldn't work as SCUBA diving instructor). After a year of so of not much in UK, I did my MSc, then was offered some work at an Antarctic research institute where I'd worked prior to NZ and diagnosis. Arrived for a 6 week contract in Jan 1999 - and I'm still here, at least in part, due to meeting partner at work, when I wasn't looking for a partner - by then I was mid 30s, and so was he, plus he spends several months each year in Antarctica, so we decided that trying for children wasn't the right course for us. However, we, and especially me, are both involved in the lives of my neices and cousins (he doesn't have any siblings nor cousins), plus one of my jobs is organising activity birthday parties for children.
So, there are other ways of living than child rearing - and our way works for us....
