Very interesting thread. I never wanted kids but after 3 years of marriage we had our first and it was life changing that can’t really be explained or truly understood until you have kids. He was so good we decided to have another shortly after. #2 was not as easy and we decided to stop at 2. I agree with just about all that’s been said above with just one important addition. I owe a lot of how great being parent is to how amazing my wife is. She is an amazing mother and just an amazing person. Having a non-crazy wife is huge. She helps me be a much better dad. Also, it’s important to know if you are controlling, a neat freak, etc because if so, if either party is, it can be a real challenge. I’m going through the teen years now and it’s pretty scary, you worry so much about them, about their future. You try to help teach from all your mistakes but the reality is that’s the only way to learn, by making mistakes so that’s challenging to know. You just have to have faith that you raised them well and all will be ok. And even if you did, there still will likely challenges. There’s nothing more heart breaking than your child in pain, physically or emotionally and that is a guarantee to happen. I am convinced my life wouldn’t be as fulfilled sans kids. However I’m sure I would be on a sailboat in the Caribbean right now if we were childless.