Worried about having kids in a world breaking down?

As we look around it’s hard to feel hopeful.

Overconsumption of resources is creating climate and ecological breakdown, while huge inequalities in wealth mean that leaders are protected from the impacts of their decisions, so slow to act.

On the way to civilisational collapse.

The war in Ukraine the latest signal from a world under stress.

So, it can be difficult to imagine bringing children into this world.

I can totally relate.

I always dreamt of being a mother. My husband and I kept deciding wait through our twenties.

But in my mid thirties biology kicked in. I was ready. Wanted a baby more than anything.

However, I had also become a climate justice campaigner. I could see what the world would look like when our baby was my age.

Not good.

So, after many heated discussions, tears and even tantrums, we concluded that we couldn’t do it.

I was heartbroken.

But I knew it was the right decision.

That I couldn’t look my child in the eye if I hadn’t done everything I could to try and change that future. And I wouldn’t have the energy to do that and be a good mother.

Ten years on, I am still occasionally wistful, but I love my life.

I have time and headspace that parents don’t. I can face into the hard work of being a changemaker. Enjoy smelling the roses in the quiet times.

And I feel I am part of birthing a new world to enable all children to thrive.

So if you are worried about having children don’t despair.

Life without them can be full of joy in the wider web of life. Maybe, just maybe, you might find this path less travelled fulfilling too.