Rant #87

I was watching this thing on the news about how desperate couples are to have children, even going so far as to buy unused fertility drugs from others on the internet. The featured couple had blown $28,000 on these treatments, maxing out their credit cards and taking out a second mortgage. Now really. Is it just me or is there something a mite bit over the top with this mindless need to procreate?

This planet is bulging at the seams, so crowded with humans it is on the brink of collapsing under the weight of so much humanity. With increasing numbers and the effects of a polluted environment on fertility, it's no wonder there are quite a number of couples who share at least one member who is not up to snuff in the sperm or egg department. Yet we are overwhelmed with unplanned and unwanted pregnancies, or children thrown to the wolves of the child welfare system due to the meltdown of families left and right. On one hand, we have infertile couples desperate to "complete themselves" by having children, while on the other, we have people desperate to get rid of them.

That's another thing I despise religion for. The tenants of most of them encourage rampant childbearing, albeit that we not enjoy the process of doing so. This is truly a selfish and reckless mindset that takes no heed of the reality that this planet is finite in it's resources and room. Of course, since HAY-ZEUS is coming on down to lay waste to Sodom and cart off all these billions of souls to live on fluffy clouds for all eternity, we need not worry about overpopulation and the hell it can make of life on Earth. Yea, right. We could solve alot of our problems if these millions of people lusting after afterlife would just go ahead and go there, leaving the rest of us with at least SOME common sense to enjoy the lives we DO have.

So, I propose this; that those who are naturally childless yet feel there is such a hole in their being they MUST have children, then adopt. When you refuse to consider such an option, you pay these poor children the ultimate disrespect by telling them they are not good enough to fill that hole that haunts you so. You tell them you would rather bankrupt yourself attempting to have a child begat of your own genes than bring them to your dinner table and love them like your own. You tell them they are worthless.

I do not have a maternal bone in my body, yet I love my wife's twin daughters as though they were my own. They will not continue MY genetic line, but guess what? I don't give a shit! Really! People who have or want to have kids look at me like I'm some kind of monster when I share my total lack of enthusiasm for the "joys" of parenthood or passing on my genes to the next generation. I was lucky by virtue that my step kids were grown up by the time I entered the picture, yet they treat me more as their Dad than the one who knocked up their Mother. Being a parent has alot more to do with what's in your heart than what's between your legs.


So, before any one of you who are striving to have children thru artificial means dare to suggest that I just don't get it, let me suggest to you that it's YOU who have to examine your motivations concerning childbearing. There are thousands of children rotting away in less than ideal foster situations, or worse, that are hoping that maybe you will too.