Do you ever regret having children?

I have always said you will never have as great a joy as being a parent nor would you have the great sorrow.
Nope I only one and my life is enriched by having him

Looks like I am going to be the first to say that if I could go back in time I would keep taking the pill.
Much as I love my children I think I would have had a better life if I hadn't become a mum.

No regrets from me either. Yes of course it was a hard slog at times coping with them all when they were small, but now they are all grown up, married and one has a child herself it is wonderful.

I am especially appreciative of the fact that in the main we all get on very well together.

Reading the very sad 'estrangements' stories on here makes me realise how lucky we are.

No! Not for one second have I ever regretted having our four children. Even with the ups and downs, going through hell each time one of them was ill, and some of the dubious choices they have made in adulthood, they, and my one grandchild, are my world. ❤️

Never, our lovely daughter married a smashing young man giving us 2 equally lovely grand-children, and our son with all his difficulties has been a joy, taught us a lot about tolerance and understanding, quite apart from the friends he has helped us make, and we are equally proud of all of them.

No don't regret having children, but regret not being a better, relaxed, easygoing Mum.

Not alone Esspee The title of the thread does not cover it for me. I don't regret having my children one iota, I love them and my grandchildren dearly.
However had I been young in a different era I would have opted not to have children. It was expected of us to have a family, terminations were not freely available and career women were few and far between. If I was young now I would opt to be child free, I'm not the most maternal person in the world.

I think perhaps my mother should have had only the one child, not the eight that she had; she was not maternal and so I became a surrogate 'mum' to my siblings at a very early age by default. I was often described as a 'born mother'. I married very young and when I finally became pregant after two years of trying I couldn't wait to become a mother 'for real'. I think I inherited my mother's missing maternal streak because motherhood, in many ways, has defined me - and even now, in my mid-sixties I am still gathering 'children' into my expansive family.

So, no, I have never regretted having children.

I'm with you, CrazyH, I was much more laid back and less worried with my grandsons, I guess it's because you don't have the onerous task of bringing them up to be good people - it's down to their parents and all we need to do is love 'em! We must have done something right though as both DD and DS grew into wonderful adults.

However, if I were a newly-wed now today, I'd think very carefully about bringing children into a world that this one is turning into, what with climate change, plastics, terrorism, drugs and human trafficking. I fear for my grandsons' future, I'm afraid.

Never, never, never. To us all three are wonderful, my only regret is the treasured one that was stillborn. Raising children is not easy you do the best you can and there are times when they are growing up if you wonder if you are raising them right. Now they are adult and have given us six lovely grandchildren. We know how very fortunate we are.

I have had 3 children all planned and immensely loved. Even as a child I always wanted to be a mother and my first career was nursery nursing.

My daughters are in their thirties and forties now, my eldest daughter has 2 children my youngest is still single and has none. My second child a boy died in childhood but I would still have preferred to have had him for a few years than not at all. Every life has purpose and meaning. I loved and still love him very much .

What Esspee said

No - for years and years I was absolutely adamant that I never wanted children, then I had a bit of an epiphany moment and decided that I did, after all. I now know that even if I've never really achieved much else on this planet, I've produced two wonderful, caring, hard-working human beings of whom I couldn't be more proud.

No regrets at all at having my 2 sons, now 48 and 45. They are the best thing that has ever happened to me, brought me no trouble and are 2 decent human beings.

I was a single parent for a long time so things could have been easier financially for us, and I wish I hadn't lost the baby in between them both.

But now I have 4 lovely grandchildren and feel blessed.

Our families lives miles away from each other but I cannot imagine life without my children and grandchildren.
The technology today allows us to be part of all their lives and when we meet up for family get togethers it is wonderful.
Life without childen is unimaginable for me.

We have two sons and three GCs. Life without them would have been so much less interesting and enjoyable. I would have liked more children, but it wasn't to be. Now they live over an hour away and we see them only occasionally. But that's fine, they seem to have happy and fulfilling lives, they are all healthy and solvent. So can't grumble, and love it when we see them.

No

I desperately wanted children, Took five years before first one was born, then we made up for it and had four more within next six years (the last two being twins). Along with an adopted son who was our baby.
Do not regret having them, although the heart ache and tears when our youngest died at the age of 25 is still being lived with although that was 17 years ago.
However, I do worry about the world that my g.children are having to grow up in. When Trump was elected in USA, for the first time I regretted having children and g.children. Hostages to a fate that I had not expected.
Political situation, the hatred, climate change - I often feel guilty about these young ones.

No, although when my first was a new born baby and I was sleep deprived and shell-shocked by the whole experience I did wondeendor a fleeting moment if I had done the right thing.
But no I have two and they and my grandchildren are the best things in my life. I don't regret having them for a second. Sometimes I wish I had had one more though.

There have been times when I've regretted having our youngest TBH. Losing him and our only GC has been and continues to be the most heartbreaking experience of my life. But overall no, no regrets.

We have wonderful memories of his first 27 years. To quote from a song called 'The Dance' "Our lives, are better left to chance. I could have missed the pain but then I would have missed the dance".

Should have said our loss, due to estrangement

No, never for a moment. We have three, and they are all wonderful, different and loving. Our third was born after a long gap, and I was offered a termination by our family Dr, which was never for a moment considered. I think I wish now, that we had tried for no. 4, but we decided not to.
I lost twins during the gap years, but they were never real to me at the time. I do wish I had known that with No 1 son, that you can actually relax, and they will grow up fine.
Now we have seven grandchildren and three great grands. Life is good.

sodapop what decade did you have your children in? I had my daughter in 78 and worked at building a business while taking a baby to work with me.I didn't know ANY stay at home mums.Most women in my area worked in shops,offices and factories,many part time.I was back at my desk when my daughter was 8 days old .It did neither her nor me any harm whatsoever . I thought SAHM's were a thing in the 50's ,my own mother was the only one of her generation I knew who didn't work. My children and GC have been a huge important part of my life my only wish is that my daughter didn't have the ill health that has plagued her for the past 6 years or so,causing her to be bedridden.She's still a fantastic mother to her 3 children though .

For me it would be a case of going back and doing all over again but with much more maturity and better understanding. I am sure things would have been much easier if i knew then what i know now.That is true of all aspects of life though.

You misunderstand me Paddyann I didn't mean stay at home Mums but being able to have a full blown career. I was offered a Ward Sister's post in the 60s but then you had to work full time to do this. It was not possible for me as I had a young child. I worked part time, my husband was a nurse and worked Mon- Fri and I worked weekends. It was a struggle.