Childfree

I'm 42 years old. Most men my age have children of their own. I don't. For most men, the meaning of life is obvious: they work hard to earn money to support themselves and their children, and in the sparetime they take care of their children. People like me, childfree people, have to determine for themselves what they are striving for. We have more freedom, but potentially also more responsibility for society.

If you are childfree yourself, you might be asking yourself whether you've made a mistake. I don't think so. Let me argue: Of course you might have valuable genes and think that it's a pity that you didn't pass them on. But: Humans have thousands of genes. The entire set of these thousands of genes is what makes up an individual. If you have a child, you pass on only half of your genes. Of course that doesn't mean that the child shares only half of his/her genes with you, after all your spouse certainly also shares some genes with you (at least the ones that make up for the species). But: After several generations, your descendants will have very little in common with you. That's why I think it's no loss for humanity that I have no children. I rather make use of the situation that I have less stress and more sparetime than most my age to invest my energy in education and creative endeavours.

Claus D. Volko 

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