I'm middle-aged now. I never had children, despite 22+ years of marriage, and will not be having them.

I don't know if I would have even had children if I hadn't been hospitalized multiple times and then disabled. I have a feeling that a significant part of that was because I never really had a particularly strong urge to have any. Neither did my husband. It's hard to say if that might have changed with time if I hadn't become very ill. I'll never know. I do not consider my childlessness a regret.

I'm sure that despite above, if I had had children when I was in my 20s, I'd surely never have regretted them. I mean, you love your child immediately. I can't imagine not loving your child. Even when things get severely tough, a parent has that love (hopefully) and the child has their life. I'm happy my parents had me. I have appreciated so many things in life despite my hardships.

I would never discourage anyone from having children unless they were prone to abusing them. I think a potential parent does have to weigh some factors into such a decision, but capacity to love is the most important thing.