Ever since I was young, I knew that I didn't want to have babies. I never liked them. They were always loud and messy and I didn't like dealing with them. There was nothing about babies that I liked. I didn't even think they were cute most of the time. I still feel this way.

I remember when I was babysitting, which I gave up doing as quickly as I possibly could, I would actively avoid babysitting any kind of infant. I didn't want to deal with trying to feed them and burp them or listening to them cry all the time.

But I hated holding them the most. When a family friend or a cousin had small children, I would never ask to hold them and when someone would offer the child up for me to hold like it was a bouquet of roses, I would immediately say no. I used to feel like I would drop them, but eventually, I realized that I simply didn't like them.

Whenever I would tell someone that I don't want kids, no matter how it came up in conversation, they would always seem almost offended at the idea. Like me not wanting to have a baby was hurtful to them and their choice to have kids.

My personal choices about babies have nothing to do with you. You don't get to weigh in on that choice either because it is my personal choice. The only other person that gets a say in this choice is my significant other.

Every time I have told someone that I don't want kids, the first thing out of their mouth, almost every time, is, "Oh, you'll change your mind when you're older."

I'm twenty-two now, almost twenty-three, and I'm here to say that I still don't like babies. At all. I still think they are obnoxious and I don't want to raise one let alone be pregnant with one. There are many people my age who are thinking, "Yeah I could see myself having like three kids," and changing their minds like so many people have told me would happen. But those people aren't me.

I remember sitting with my fiance one day and someone that my fiance's family kind of knew was talking to us. The conversation about babies and having children came up, as it sometimes does when people know that you're getting married. We told this person that we didn't plan on having babies and this person took it upon themselves to tell us that we could always go to a sperm bank and that there are always other ways of getting pregnant. Needless to say, we left that conversation as quickly as we could.

For those of you who think it is somehow wrong for me not to want to have a baby like that person did, I want you to know that I am not a baby-making machine. I am my own person and I don't need a baby to feel complete like some of you think. To me, babies aren't the end goal.

I'm sorry if, for whatever reason, you are offended by my choice to not have a baby, but honestly, it really doesn't concern you. I don't want to hear about all of the joys you get as a mother or father. I don't need to listen to your story of parenthood because it's not going to change my mind. I've seen and heard hundreds of these stories between movies and books and I don't need your story to add to it.

I'm sure that you love your kids and you love that you chose to have them. That's great and I'm happy for you. I hope you can raise your kid right with manners and I hope that you teach them to stand up for what they believe in. But you don't need to tell me how to live my life in order to do that.

Maybe one day my fiance and I will decide to adopt a five-year-old child or maybe we won't. Either way, there are alternative options in the world other than having babies. And I can assure you that we will not be having an infant.