Siddharth retweetledi
Beyond the realities of an unsustainable world and the rising cost of raising a child, there’s something else I’ve been thinking about as I move deeper into my 30s.
You can walk away from many things in life - a marriage, a job, a friendship, situations that no longer serve you. But you can’t walk away from being a parent. Once you choose it, it’s yours for life. There’s no undo button, no clean exit. And a commitment like that deserves real deliberation.
If someone decides they don’t want children, that’s not something to question - it’s something to respect. Because the alternative is far worse: bringing a child into the world and realising, midway, that you don’t have it in you. You can’t just opt out without consequence. And when people do, it often leaves behind a lifetime of emotional damage.
We’ve seen this play out across generations - people raised by parents who were physically present but emotionally absent, or who quietly carried the weight of a life they didn’t fully choose. Many of our parents didn’t have the space to make that decision consciously. They were expected to follow a path, not question it.
I often think about how different things could have been if they had that choice - if they could have decided freely, without pressure. Even if that meant some of us wouldn’t exist in that version of the world.
So yes, it’s a good thing that more people today are choosing not to have children - not out of fear, but out of clarity. Because they understand what it truly means. Because they know it’s permanent. Because they’re choosing responsibility over assumption.
And ultimately, that’s far more ethical than bringing a life into the world and not being able to show up for it. And have you seen the world we live in today? It requires being brave, and having strong will to raise a kid. And I truly applaud the folks who are doing it.
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