by Jordan Davidson
4 stars
Through an interesting blend of research findings and personal stories from a variety of people, Davidson presents different aspects of answering the question, so when are you having kids?
The book is broken down into four parts: Do You Want Kids?, Should You Have Kids?, How to Have Kids, and You Don’t Want Kids. It covers a wide variety of topics from parenting desires, social pressures, pros and cons of parenthood, infertility, alternatives paths like foster care and surrogacy, and living a childfree life, using information from science, psychology, and anecdotes.
The book does focus mostly on the when and how of becoming a parent and a lot less time on the if.
Overall, a helpful guide. I found Part II: Should You Have Kids? the most interesting as it goes through different considerations for having children such as the cost, the environmental impact, and the fears of passing on certain genes, being a bad parent, and of pregnancy and childbirth as a whole, many of which are relatable to my journey. The book also really gets into the details on the fertility process and different fertility treatments, which I personally didn’t know much about.
You could definitely skip around to the parts that are most relevant to you. I read it straight through and there were plenty of things that I’m not personally dealing with at the moment, but still felt they were well-presented.
The book certainly gives the reader a lot to think about. I wouldn’t say it’s definitive in that by the end of reading it you will have the answer to whether or not you want to have kids. At least it didn’t for me. It’s definitely a personal journey. But it does provide a good overview of considerations and things to think about as you reflect on what you want in life. At the end, Davidson provides a list of questions to consider based on issues brought up throughout the book to help with the decision.