I think Morrie Schwartz said it best in "Tuesdays with Morrie". "Whenever people ask me about having children or not having children, I never tell them what to do." Morrie said, looking at a photo of his oldest son. "I simply say, "There is no experience like having children.' That's all. There is no substitute for it. You cannot do it with a friend. You cannot do it with a lover. If you want the experience of having complete responsibility for another human being, and to learn how to love and bond in the deepest way, then you should have children." "Would I do it again? I would not have missed that experience for anything. Even though.........He swallowed and put the picture in his lap. "Even though there is a painful price to pay." he said. "Because I'll be leaving them soon." I watched the first teardrop fall down the side of his cheek.
Before I had children, a friend told me "you don't know what love is until you've had a child." It is true!