I decided before I was diagnosed that if I was diagnosed with bipolar that was it, no kids for me. That's just because of my family history and knowing that I personally would not do a good job as a parent because of my particular symptoms. But it was really affirmed when I talked to my psychiatrist about it. She was very candid and said that if I chose to have a baby she would support me through it but that she strongly recommended not trying. She said that I would probably be very ill through pregnancy and quite possibly afterwards and that getting me stabilized on meds again could take a long time. There's also the genetic component to consider,etc. Later I was having gyn issues and facing a hysterectomy and she did tell me that this was my last chance and if I wanted to have a baby that this was the time and she would support me 100% if I decided that. I knew there was no way that I was equipped to be a single parent and I had just been through the sickest year ever so it wasn't even a consideration.

I just always thought her truthfulness about what might happen was helpful. Obviously it's a bit different since I'm female but at the same time she was clear that parenting would be very hard for me. And since I grew up with a mentally ill parent I knew that this can translate into it being very hard for the child. Since my psychiatrist always encouraged me to do anything I wanted to do, including working years longer than even vocational rehab recommended, I knew that her thoughts on this were valuable.