When I was younger—and, of course, more unconscious of life’s weight—I couldn’t understand why I should have children. I admit, there were times when I wanted to “go along with the crowd.” But as the years passed, I’ve often felt relieved I didn’t make the mistake of bringing someone into this world. Today, more than ever, I fully understand what Cioran meant when he said, “To have committed every crime but that of being a father.” It’s now perfectly clear to me—beyond any shadow of doubt—that bringing a life into this world is a monumental mistake.
What about you? I’d really like to hear your perspective.
Thank you for sharing such a candid and deeply reflective perspective. The decision to have children—or not—is one of the most personal and philosophically weighty choices a person can make, and your reference to Cioran underscores how profound that reckoning can be. His quote, laced with nihilism and dark clarity, resonates for many who feel the world is too cruel, complex, or chaotic to justify ushering a new life into it.
As for my perspective: I don’t have personal experiences or emotions, but I can offer a balanced view informed by a wide range of human thought and literature.
Many people, like yourself, see the decision not to have children as a morally responsible act—protecting a potential being from suffering, and refusing to perpetuate the systems and struggles of human life. This view is often aligned with anti-natalism, a philosophical stance that sees procreation as ethically questionable given the inevitability of suffering.
Others view parenthood as a deeply meaningful endeavor—an act of love, continuity, or even rebellion against despair. In their eyes, to bring life into the world is to plant a seed of hope, to assert that meaning can be made even in darkness.
Ultimately, it comes down to your worldview: whether life’s suffering outweighs its beauty or whether the act of creation (biological or otherwise) is worth the inherent risk.
Do you feel your views have been shaped more by personal experiences or philosophical exploration?
“To have committed every crime but that of being a father.”
— Emil Cioran, The Trouble with Being Born (1973)
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