I can't believe that I haven't ventured into this thread yet. I'm a dad to 6 boys. One from my first marriage (the "boy" is 29) and 5 with my now wife (youngest is 9).
My oldest gave me so much concern for his future. He didn't talk until he was damn near 4 years old, was in fights on a weekly basis up until he was probably in 4th grade, and school just never came easy to him. His mom and I got divorced with he was about 4 years old and I got primary custody. It took a lot of patience, but he has sure come into his own. He's now an 11 year veteran of the Air Force and has decided to stay in for at least 20. He's completed his masters degree and has not used any of his GI Bill for any of his school. The Air Force paid for virtually all of his school via tuition assistance. He just got married in December, he's well adjusted, and he's productive member of society that cares about others. He volunteers his time and he's been his unit SHARP (Sexual Harassment/Assault Response and Prevention) victim advocate. All of the "problems" that he had growing up tried me, but the man that he has become just fills me with pride.
My next oldest, who is the first with my now wife, had his own issues growing up. I worried about him quite a bit. The boy was a 6'5" 270lb offensive lineman that that was a 3 year starter on the varsity high school football team and a very good high school wrestler at the 280 lb weight class. The time that he cried while telling me that he didn't have any "real" friends nearly broke me. This is a kid that is good looking, smart, and by all outward appearances had everything going for him. Being a teenager is hard and being a parent of a teenager is hard. Now, he's well adjusted and living life on his own without asking me or mom for much of anything except advice.
Next one, oh man, this one nearly broke me completely. First, when he was 3 months old, I was working in downtown Austin and lived in Cedar Park. I got a call from my wife one day and she was frantically yelling into the phone "He's not breathing! His limbs are turning purple!". I told her to call 911 and that I was on my way home. This was before I even had a cell phone. Turned out to be okay (after a few days in children's hospital and a ton of tests), but if she hadn't checked him right when she did (he was down for a nap), he may not be with us today. Then less than a year later I went to Iraq for the first time. The wife and I dropped the boys off at the mother's day out program at our church before heading to the airport. I cried like a baby telling them goodbye. They were both too young to understand what was going on, but holy hell that was hard. Today, this one is currently in basic training, as he has joined the Iowa Army National Guard. After completing of his BCT and AIT, he's heading up to Iowa to wrestle for a small school up there on a half ride with the Guard helping to pay for the rest.
The youngest 3 are still giving me grief every time they can. Of all of the sleepless nights, time spent apart, trouble in school, problems with girls, etc, I wouldn't trade my last 29 years for anything. I haven't done much for just me in quite some time. It's few and far between when the wife and I do something for ourselves. Every vacation, night out, you name it, has to be carefully planned. There's school functions, sports practices/games/tournaments that we are constantly going to and from. And you know what? That's okay. That's what our life is and I'm going to miss it terribly when they are all grown and out of the house.
So, to have kids or not is a decision that each couple must make on their own. There are pros and cons. For me, the pros far outweigh all of the horrible shit that they put us through. And as much grief as they have put me through, they have given me far greater joy. I've seen 3 so far go from little human things that can't do anything for themselves to adults that are making their own way. I can honestly say that all of my boys are going to be better men than me. That's what we hope for, right?