Opinion: Reproduction and Social Responsibility

At this point, we're pretty sure that one child is the right way to go for us, especially given how hesitant we were just to reproduce. It wasn't something to take lightly; everything changes. My body will never be the same. We'll no longer be footloose and fancy-free.

We have the enormous task of forming a human being filled with intelligence, kindness, compassion, and responsibility. We want to raise a child with a sense of humor (The doubleness of this statement is appropriate). We want discipline and hilarity. We want to take Scooter to exotic places. We want him to be a beautiful human being.

Raising children is not something to take lightly, and the more children you add to the mix, the harder it seems to keep some semblance of oneself intact, and the harder it seems to pay attention to children as individuals.

If, after Scooter's birth and early development, we, through some kind of baby-induced insanity, decided that we wanted more than one child, we'd adopt. There are several considerations here. Responsibility to do it right, as mentioned above, but also, because of our "advanced ages," every time we would conceive, we'd be tempting the fates to give us a baby that's genetically malformed. Why gamble like that?

If Scooter is a boy, and we also wanted a girl, why would we try and make one when we could adopt an unwanted one? I've met families with 4 boys, and they have four boys because they kept trying for that elusive girl chromosome. Is it that important for a baby to have the same genetic material as its parents? I believe bonding can happen without the genetic coding.

I don't understand the urge to create a large family. In many ways, I can see the pluses of having a sibling as a companion, and also someone to share memories with when you get older. Socially, however, I believe in zero population growth. Two parents, two children. Thus, the burden of humanity on our planet's resources does not increase. It seems like such a simple way to shoulder social responsibility. Given the state of our world, it was a big decision just to bring one more new human into it.