Having Kids Vs Child Free: What’s the Right Choice?
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
Al Jazeera, “UN says families, a generation being ‘wiped out’ by Israel’s war on Gaza”
Elizabeth Barber, “The Case Against Children: Among the AntiNatalists,” in Harpers
Kristen V. Brown, “The Coming Democratic Baby Bust,” in The Atlantic
Meehan Crist, “Is It Okay to Have A Child?” in The London Review of Books
Sarah El Deeb, “The war in Gaza has wiped out entire Palestinian families. AP documents 60 who lost dozens or more,” in AP
Silvia Federici, “Wages for Housework”
Nancy Folbre, “Children As Public Goods,” in The American Economic Review
Timothy Morton, “The End of the World,” Chapter 6 in Hyperobjects
MSF, “Gaza: MSF survey shows almost half of people killed are children”
Christine Overall, Why Have Children? The Ethical Debate
Laurie Ann Paul, “What You Can’t Expect When You’re Expecting”
Plato, Euthyphro
Gina Rushton, The Parenthood Dilemma
Saul Smilansky, “Is There A Moral Obligation to Have Children?” in Journal of Applied Philosophy
Lyman Stone, “Would You Have A Baby if You Won the Lottery?” in The Atlantic
UNFPA, The Real Fertility Crisis
Louise Weard, Castration Movie Anthology Part 1
Louise Weard, Castration Movie Anthology Part 2
Jessica Winter, “The Morality of Having Kids in a Burning, Drowning World,” in The New Yorker
Seth Wynes and Kimberly Nicholas, “The Climate Mitigation Gap,” in Environmental Research Letters
#philosophy #education #ethics
@PhilosophyTube
May 26, 2026 at 3:42 am
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@samdwichenjoyer
May 26, 2026 at 3:42 am
trans woman here who never heavily considered having children of my own before this video. oh my god girl, that ending segment was BRUTAL 😭
@marcolivellidavid6926
May 26, 2026 at 3:42 am
But if she never really had sex then what did they did with the mariner he's so ashame of???? I wont sleep tonight
@bytheriverandthesea
May 26, 2026 at 3:42 am
A child is the biggest bet on the future a person can make. Not because of cost, happiness, elderly care or the continuity of the nation or whatever. Because this child will still be there when we are dead and inherit the world we will leave behind. Beyond our own life and experience, nothing we do will have any chance of having a lasting meaning without that one daring bet. It isn't just personal, however. It isn't just an individualistic bet. Just as we all are formed by people we met, hear from, listen to or read about so will our children. Each and every child is a communal bet, just as our culture and the way the present extends into the future is communal. This makes this whole question a communal one, mainly by how we answer it and take responsibility for it by making this bet a worthwhile one to take. By its very nature children are the antithesis to our individualistic age. Not just because it takes two people to make one, but because of the village that raises it and the whole culture that forms it and that it will take part in forming. In this way giving birth is the only true form of magic that exists in the world. It changes its parents, all the people it will met during its lifetime and therefore the whole world. The children of men are the incarnation of hope within life itself. The one thing that connects past, present and future in the wonder of existence.
@catty_5656
May 26, 2026 at 3:42 am
I was diagnosed with PCOS a couple of years ago and it really messed with my head. I’m young but I do want kids someday, and even the possibility of that being harder has been hard to grapple with. To be honest, I did stop taking birth control as a means of managing my periods, but purely because it stopped me having them entirely, and supplements and nutrition management have made these issues far better. It’s still hard to decide, if I can have kids, even if I really want to, should I? It really bothers me that this personal choice is limited not just by my body but by idiots who want to kill us all
@physin2
May 26, 2026 at 3:42 am
Killer outro xD
Thank you, Abigail, I think this might have helped me c:
@prae_varicator
May 26, 2026 at 3:42 am
I love you and everyone helping you do this amazing work!
@dominiquensouza
May 26, 2026 at 3:42 am
OnlyFins 😂😂😂
@irrelevant_noob
May 26, 2026 at 3:42 am
14:32 plenty of other things aren't bulletproof either 😅 ( though that would likely not have the same undertone in a different country than was mentioned later [23:03] … but overall the whole world is "a bit– Yeah" [28:59] :-< )
@oOochikaraoOo
May 26, 2026 at 3:42 am
25:59 But our beauty and youth WILL die with us. In the sonnet, someone else gets young and beautiful. Which will happen regardless of whether we're having a child or not
Plus it sounds like Shakespeare didn't want ugly people to reproduce, ouch!
@aaronmckitterick5539
May 26, 2026 at 3:42 am
It has never been a perfect safe workd for kids. This social media we on here is why we stop the kids as when the world actually really sucked but they did not see it all as they not bombarded by news of hate 24/7. And the way you people look at how some how we think it unethical but it has never been ethical its this stupid social. Most of these talks where about because people not wanting kids or to live because of some where else something horrible happening. If this how u decide things then let’s drop the nikes now
@m.r.lunicke7496
May 26, 2026 at 3:42 am
I’m a trans person who had children post transition. I would not have made that choice, would not have even considered that choice (or the mountain of effort it took my family to make children happen), if I didn’t have realistic hope that in the location I live my child might have a chance, cis, trans, straight or queer. Things are NOT equal where I live, but there are still decent prospects (comparatively).
I’m fully aware in realistic terms for a trans person, my options (despite all still truly significant barriers) is like holding a winning lottery ticket.
And not that children are a political tool, but it’s inevitable that an increase in transgender parenthood has an enormous and hopefully positive impact on the social conscience of the future generations raised by those of us who 100% want them, while also valuing the development of complex and coherent identities and expressions.
If anyone was to be having more children, I would want it to be ‘safe-enough’ and desirous transgender parents. And I want the world to be safe-enough for that to be possible anywhere, so that it was an equally sensible/senseless choice as it is for cis people.
Outside of that. We do have to play the hand we have.
@OptaisAmme
May 26, 2026 at 3:42 am
"Abigail, don't form any attachments you can't run away from." 💔💔💔💔💔💔
@PenitentHollow
May 26, 2026 at 3:42 am
Ooof, that was a lot of fish-shtick.
@munaapfelbaum6576
May 26, 2026 at 3:42 am
I'm sure my parents never truely wanted me and I was just produced because it was expected of them. I basically raised my younger sister, emotianlly at least. I suffer from depression my whole aduld life and I am childfree by choice. Not every life is worth living. There are worse things than death or never beeing born. I love my niece and nephew, I'm glad they exists and they are loved by their parents. But not beeing loved by your parents scars you for life. I will be the last of my family with my name since my sister took her husbands name. And I can't care less. Preserving a random name or bloodline is not worth beeing born into an unloving world.
@CirceIsland
May 26, 2026 at 3:42 am
All the nautical jokes lol.
@TheFoxyAssassin
May 26, 2026 at 3:42 am
Nooooo, Abigail! Pokemon being created by a man with autism is a myth!
@GetOffIt
May 26, 2026 at 3:42 am
Was washing dishes and listening to this and gasped when you name dropped castration movie omfg I loooove it
@fufurabumbacka
May 26, 2026 at 3:42 am
It makes no sense to bring anybody into this world from the abyss.
@zaydhasan1633
May 26, 2026 at 3:42 am
Kerbal Space Prograaaaaam!!!
@panswen
May 26, 2026 at 3:42 am
The last part about "not making commitments you can't run away from" resonated with me in an interesting way, and made me realise that I have the reverse dilemma. I'm nonbinary, and I'm very fortunate and privileged to have reached a point in my journey where I'm mostly happy and satisfied with the way I am, without having to physically transition and being exposed to the precarity, discrimination, and violence that a lot of my trans friends are facing head on. Despite that, I still think I would be happier with myself if I did. Transition is my preference. But I also have commitments I can't run away from, and transitioning would endanger that, so I'm forced to ask myself: "do I really need this?" So far, my choice has been not to transition.
It's horrible to have to think that way. I dearly wish that one day we won't have to.
@stirnersretrowave5094
May 26, 2026 at 3:42 am
The fact so many fascists on YouTube make so many whine and seethe videos regarding opting out of having children is bad is all the confirmation needed not having children is the best possible anti-authoritarian behavior.
@apinguinathome
May 26, 2026 at 3:42 am
I hope this is a safe space to say this because the ending segment of the video really hitt me hard. I am of the opinion that every person has the right to be treated equally, as I hope and belive most hear do. I knew and have talked to trans friends of mine about the loops, hoops and barbed wier fences they had and are traversing just to be exepted by others and to feel comfortable in their own skin. I felt going in to this that "I mean, I will probably know some of this and learn some more", but I am left feeling like a sack of potatoes. I am not from the UK, still i knew it was bad but not how. More so it made me realise that I know very little about the laws that affect my friends in my own country! Are there similar laws that cut them of from public health care regarding getting children (like IVF) or to face charges for a hookup. The ending statement was gutt wrenching, no person deserves to feel unsafe like that!
I really do hope I do not look like a to much of a idiot, just a little because I feel I at least deserve that.
Thank you for being outspoken, maby then people like me and worse can get their thumb out of their ass and learn somthing that makes them think and go and seek out more information.
Thank you one final time!
@wazzup105
May 26, 2026 at 3:42 am
How can you be so smart and funny and also break my heart several times under an hour.
@mr.nobody5669
May 26, 2026 at 3:42 am
I can't afford ANYTHING but my rent and bills barely food or other stuff. Why would i ever bring a children to endure that torture with me.
@CactusCowboy2025
May 26, 2026 at 3:42 am
The “right” choice is entirely down to the individual. Nobody else has a say in the matter. It’s of no concern if they think they are a moral authority on the subject.
@CactusCowboy2025
May 26, 2026 at 3:42 am
The people who moan about birth rates are not aware that they can just breed as many wage slaves as they like with artificial wombs.
All they need is about a million dollars per baby. But that’s a THEM problem XD
But hey, better than trying to shame people who don’t want kids and creating another pointless internet war.
Comments are closed.