Why do people want to reproduce?

Question

Is it hard-wired into our brains or is it something else?

Answer 1

yes. Its hardwired in our DNA

those who did not have it in their DNA, would not be able to make little copies of that DNA (aka babies)

thusly leaving that DNA doomed to extinction

some of us might not WANT children........ but I'm sure we've had sex or plan to sometime soon.

society has made it a little more difficult to squeeze kids into our schedules and its expensive. they just kinda get in the way.

for 1000000s of years, kids we're cheaper and necessary.
Imagine. the more kids you have and that grow, the more help you have to accomplish tasks
(strength in numbers)

watch Idiocracy
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Idiocracy
the opening sequence is a great example of child bearing decisions.

Answer 2

Yes, hardwired is accurate in my opinion.

But,
Some people choose not to have children and of those people some choose not to because they hate kids altogether. I think it is a society thing for us now, people want to start a family because they want a family, just as they buy a house because they want their own home. The rewards are very different but it still boils down to possessing something. Because I know many people who choose to never reproduce and have no urge to (aside from the pleasure of sex) I feel that it may be hardwired into our brains but our "higher intelligence" can override that instinct and make them not want to reproduce at all.
So, why do people want to reproduce?
1.To HAVE a child and/or family- a possession.
2.Every person does not want to reproduce.

Great question!

Answer 3

I'm a biologist by training, so my thoughts may be different from others. By reproducing you are leaving a legacy of yourself. Biologically the "point of lilfe" is also to reproduce and pass on your genes. I was a very different person until my child was born and since then I see the world very differently and having a child has given me purpose where I didn't feel I had one before (the purpose of doing my best job in raising this guy as a strong, healthy, positive member of society and the world.) It may sound hokey, but my kids are my legacy and my purpose.

Answer 4

Biologically, the human race survived in its earliest days because of constant reproduction and food availability, among many other factors.

Because humans have the ingrained instinct to reproduce their own genetic makeup, each man and woman will do what he or she can to ensure he or she has children and that those children will survive. Men seek to "spread their seed" as much as possible to as many different women as they can, because not every woman is necessarily fertile.
Website: http://www.cavalierdaily.com/CVArticle.asp?ID=29061&pid=1535

What about the human instinct to breed?

Humans, like all creatures, have urges which lead to reproduction. Our biological urge is to have sex, not to make babies. Our "instinct to breed" is the same as a squirrel's instinct to plant trees: the urge is to store food, trees are a natural result. If sex is an urge to procreate, then hunger's an urge to defecate.

Culturally-induced desires can be so strong that they seem to be biological, but no evolutionary mechanism for an instinct to breed exists. Why do we stop breeding after we've had as many as we want? If the instinct is to reproduce, how are so many of us able to over ride it? There are too many who have never felt that urge: mutations don't occur in this high a percentage of a population.

Looking to our evolutionary roots, imagine Homo erectus feeling the urge to create a new human. He then has to understand that a cavewoman is needed, sexual intercourse must be engaged in, and they will have to wait nine months.

Considering how often our species has the urge for sex, it's likely human sexuality serves primarily a pair-bonding function rather than procreative. Human infants are vulnerable for so long that their survival, in prehistoric times, may have depended on a strong pair bond between parents. Bonobos, perhaps our closest biological relative, engage in sex for social reasons far more than for reproductive reasons.
http://www.vhemt.org/biobreed.htm

Answer 5

Well, some people just get the desire to have a child. Someone to take care of. Some people think it's a way of passage. But some reproduce by accident, with unsafe or unprotected sex.

Answer 6

Because God told us to
Because it feels good
Because we all have maternal or paternal instincts
Because we don't use birth control
To "Trap" a partner
Because some people think it will be neat to have their own live doll.

Those are the reasons that I can think of right off the top of my head

john g

Answer 7

Hmm because we are human and it's instinct. Not to mention most people want the joy of raising a child....

there are people out there that don't want kids. they are just few and far between

Answer 8

I dont want to reproduce & have taken measures medically to insure this as well

Answer 9

Folk want to know that someone will be there to carry on the work of making everyone else miserable.

Answer 10

I guess mine was short-circuited. I'm 28 married 9 years and have no children, and no intentions on having any.

That's my personal choice.