Why do people keep having children when the earth is faced with overpopulation?

Question

Plus they can adapt a child already born that needs parent/s. And if you have two child and want more you should adopt. I think its very selfish to keep having children and not look at the impact humans are having on the environment. What do you think?

Answer 1

Insecurity and (or) ignorance

Answer 2

Better question is why shouldn't we have children. I have three children that i pay for. I've never been on gov. assistance. So why should i be punished for something someone else does. Why would i want to raise someone elses children when i can have my own. Why should i adopt. some child that is mental damaged and dangerous to have around. Why should i raise some one elses child. Are they better than a child of my own.
I do agree that adoption is great for people with no children, the problem with that is all the red tape. Or they neglect to inform them of mental problems. Or the parents don't want to sign away their parental rights. Then your no better off. Are you going to tell us what we can and can't do.Then we become a communist party. P.S. There has never been a true communist party. Sorry. Then it boils down to what makes you think this child is better than that child. Then who becomes God. That position i hear is taken. Are you going to be the one that tells a whole nation that it can not have any children for so many months or years. Are you going to pick which women can have kids in overpopulated countries and tell the other women that can't have any. Are you then going to regulate which race can up their population . How are you going to decrease it.

Adoption is a very personel thing. It has to be done for the right reasons. The adults need to have a personel connection with the child also. Then can i afford more kids. But the most important one is do they want to do adoption. I would think it is the biggest risk next to marraige.

Answer 3

The overpopulation problem only really applies to developing countries like India and China and it's a valid question to ask why people there keep having lots of children if they live in poverty and find it hard to make ends meet. The answer is probably down to lack of sex education and available contraception. One child policies like the ones introduced in China can't be effective until people take away the stigma of having a girl instead of a boy.

Having lots of kids isn't in itself a problem. Of course there are some people I feel shouldn't be having kids at all but that's another story.

Answer 4

It upsets me when people have children that they are not capable of raising in a well-provided home. Whether they lack the money and resources to even provide for the childrens basic human needs and still keep adding to their flock. Or some people have large families but have no time to be with them. They have demanding careers or they just focus their energy on the oldest child or some other issue. There is a severe lack of good family planning which is crucial for raising healthy, well-adjusted and independent people. Without it, society ends up with these families who are in an endless cycle of dependence on the state for their well-being or dysfunctional families that have generations of problems like alcoholism and depression. Schools should teach child psychology so that everyone knows how to raise a sane and fit human being even if they don't ever become parents later on.

Answer 5

I think it depends on the country. In some countries - such as certain South American countries and places like the Philippines the church is extremely powerful and prevents effective birth control. When people are very poor you can not convince them to give up one of the only pleasures they have in life. Also in many of these countries the onlly security people have for their future is their children. How do you convince a man/woman to not have children if their only possibility of food and shelter for the future is their children?

In the U.S. and certain other countries it is a different story but the problem is also different here. Not nearly as much impact on world population and environment. Actually in the U.S. we are fairly close to ZPG not counting immigration.

Answer 6

I would like to adopt, but it is not an easy or cheap process. Even if you get a special needs child from the state you live in (which is usually free) you have to pay a lawyer and pay for a homestudy, etc. I don't think there are enough good resources about adoption for people who aren't making $200,000 per year.

Also, it's really hard to adopt from the places that are currently overcrowded. I would cherish a child from India, China or Africa. But it costs tens of thousands to get babies from there! :(

I'm infertile, so I won't be contributing to the population.

Answer 7

Your question is based on a faulty premise with no sound or reasonable way to prove overpopulation exists. Who says the earth is facing overpopulation? Where did they get their information? How can it be "proved?" (I doubt it can.)

Additonally, who says that having children is selfish...That's a very narrow way of looking at the world. What is your logic for attributing environmental impact to humans? Volcanoes around the world effect the environment more dramatically than humanity ever could...unless you want to delve into philosophical or religious views.

Basically, I think you've over-generalized your question. You really haven't found the basic, underlying "thesis statement."

Answer 8

Well, I know it seems silly to keep having children when there are so many kids who need good homes out there, but to many people it is important to create their own child who shares their DNA and has their same characteristics. I think what Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie are doing (having their own kid but also adopting other children) is a very nice thing, for people who want big families. However, I believe it is a woman's basic human right to have her own child if she so chooses, regardless of overpopulation threats. Besides, once all the Baby Boomers die off, we'll have a bit more space at least...

Answer 9

Why do people take medication and artificially prolonging their lives with surgery and nursing homes? If you are that worried, look at the population of westerners and see how many are over sixty rather than how many are under 20. Instead of following nature's way and passing on to make room, they are rather selfishly continuing to take up space on our planet. They don't even contribute to the economy, although it is nice to get stories about the olden days.

Doesn't sound so good the other way, eh?

Answer 10

Adopting a child is not as easy as you think it is. I have been having problems getting pregnant for 4 years. But I can't adopt a child because I don't have the money to pay for it. Do you know that the minimum cost of adopting a child can range about $30K. I can't give a child a mansion, or a porche at 16, or even guarantee that I will have the money to send them to college to be a doctor.....but I definitely have enough love to care for them.

Wasn't the earth created for humans? If not, why are we here? Having babies doesn't hurt the environment as much as what scientists are doing to it.

As one of the other posters said....."People die, babies are born......life goes on".

Answer 11

Not everyone can afford to adopt children, its spendy. Plus besides the fact it's one of the few things in this world left that no one else has control over. They are so darn cute and I beleive some do it just out of curiosity to see what you can make, like whats it gonna look like, is it going to have my ears? His nose?