got into a discussion with my parents yesterday about having children. was trying to prove that at least half of people who have them in back in the "old country" do it because of social pressure and if it wasn't a thing to do, they would happily not have any. since there's more social pressure not to have children in the states and especially in new york, i don't see a point of rushing into anything. one of the women at work made a very good point. she said that people who choose not to have children put a lot of thought in to that decision where as people who have chilren often don't think about their decision at all. thus those of us who choose to opt out have more reasons and arguments than those on the other side of the issue. my mother's reason why i should have kids was "i want you to." if that's not a killer argument, i don't know what is.

i'd be interested to know what people on various sides of the ocean think about this issue. is it more of a personal choice or is it dictated by the society?