My reasons are not unusual. Parenthood is not for everyone; raising a child is a huge financial and emotional investment; the compromise and commitment required is enormous; and my husband and I find fulfillment in many other ways. But over the last decade, another reason has crept in and has only grown stronger with time.
This is not a world into which I want to bring a child. A child will inevitably be affected by the problems and stressful times we live in, from which I would never be able to guarantee him or her protection. In India, doomsday headlines scream out environmental and lifestyle-related problems every day. It all stems from overpopulation, many of the reports say. Though everyone agrees that environmental issues need to be dealt with, are we considering the impact our decision to have children has on these issues? Do ecological concerns feature in the decision-making process for individuals in India who decide to be child-free or adopt children? [...]
Radical antinatalists view birth as morally wrong, encouraging people not to procreate: This will gradually extinguish the human race and, thus, the inevitable suffering that human life endures as well as its causes. There are echoes of this thought in Marvel Studios’ Avengers: Infinity War, in which the antagonist Thanos explains to his daughter Gamora his reasons for destruction to restore balance: “Little one, it’s a simple calculus. This universe has finite its resources…if life is left unchecked, life will cease to exist. It needs correcting.”
Other subscribers of antinatalism are less extreme in their views. They understand that it is virtually impossible for everyone to stop procreating, but a contribution can be made to slow down the population growth—by abstaining from having one’s own children; adopting a child rather than having their own; or stopping at one biological child and adopting more children if they want to have a larger family. [...]
“There are already too many children in the world in need of love, and I can’t see why having a child of my own would be better,” said Kondvikar. “At least in this way I’d be taking on responsibility for a good reason, rather than just because it’s the norm.” José agreed, “If and when I ever choose to have children it’ll definitely be only through adoption. There are millions of homeless, orphaned kids who are way more worthy of a family than me bringing another kid into our already overpopulated country.”
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