I am in an unseen minority. I am part of a very small group of people that did not want kids growing up, and still do not want kids now. On the daily basis I hear “Oh, you will meet a nice man one day and want kids” and “Oh but how will you feel any fulfillment in your life?” and each time someone says these things I roll my eyes just a little bit harder.

And each time I reaffirm my desire to not have children; the older generation believes I am just another millennial going through a phase. Yet the fact of the matter is, I really do not want kids.

This sets me up for a lot of criticism. With recent 20^th century events such as eugenics, abortion, and ethnic cleansing, my adamant attitude in believing people should relax on the birth rate somewhat associates me with anti-baby beliefs, which is absolutely false.

Politically, I fall somewhere in between Democrat and Republican and my beliefs tend to confuse people in both parties. Essentially, no matter what I say on the baby matter, someone from either side of the spectrum usually yells at me for something.

So why do I not want kids? What makes me so adamantly against having my own, biological children? Why should you consider not having your own children? There are a lot of logical reasons, as well as a lot of alternatives to find parental fulfillment.

First off, the world is beyond its carrying capacity. Politicians debate climate change on the daily but an undeniable fact is that the world is at its current poor environmental quality due to overpopulation. There are over 7.4 billion people living on a planet that has already surpassed the “tipping point” of overstressed resources and natural systems.

If our world is being pushed to its absolute limits, how will the human race be sustained? With genetically grown food in factories? With shared and reclaimed water? Not having your own child eases the burden on a dying world. Although it is only one less mouth to feed, every little step helps.

Secondly, there are nearly 153 million orphans worldwide, and nearly 400,000 adoptable children in the United States alone. These children live on the streets begging for food or dress themselves in rags for clothing. Statistically, war is one of the largest contributors to parentless children, but many children live on the street due to sexual orientation, abusive families, or drug abuse.

Why would you have your own child when you could easily give your love to an adoptable orphan that genuinely needs you? Adopting a child fills your need for parental fulfillment, eases the environmental burden on society, and helps solve a portion of the homelessness issue.

Finally, consider the suicide, depression, and anxiety rates around the world. Nearly 800,000 people successfully commit suicide each year, while for each successful suicide, at least 25 people attempt suicide, and around 300 million people are suffering from depression. When you decide to have a child, that is the result of something you want, not them. The people that are currently alive right now did not choose to live, but are alive as a direct result of someone else’s decision to bring life.

To a lot of people, life is a gift, but to a lot of other people, it is a choice they would not have made for themselves. Why would you bring your own child into the world and take the gamble that theywill not feel that way, or will not be born with some terminal disease that makes the entirety of their lives miserable, etc.? Why do that when you can adopt a child who is already in these situations as a result of someone else’s mistake, and turn their lives around and give them the life they deserve?

I get it, you want to have your own child with someone you love; you want a mini version of you. You want to be able to raise up a child in your beliefs and in your style, and that is fine, but consider the 85 million unwanted pregnancies that occur each year.

Those are children you can raise up to be your own. Those are children you can help grown and help teach. Considering the state that the world is in, why add extra strain to the world when you can use your love and means in a useful and compassionate way?

At the end of it all, I know people will still have their own kids, teenagers will make mistakes, and religious households will continue to follow their practices and grow their families. But if there is anything to take away from this, just know that biological parenthood is not the only option.