by Count Mippipopoulos

Created on: January 07, 2009

The human need to reproduce confuses me. As a 27 year old male I have no idea what it feels like to have a biological clock, a maternal instinct, or a natural affinity towards children. While I understand that these intangible and mysterious traits do lurk in the recesses of most women's psyches, I am not satisfied as to their validity when used as an argument for having children.

I am happily involved in a relationship with a loving girlfriend. This relationship will likely be over by the middle of this year for one frustrating, inane reason. I don't want kids. Ever. My girlfriend, although adamant that she does not want to have a family for years to come, insists that we are just wasting our time together if we don't want the same things out of life. Here's where I start to get confused.

We love each other. We have common interests and beliefs (with one glaring exception). We make each other laugh and we don't piss each other off too badly. I would be happy living the rest of my life in such simplicity. We could travel and have a nice little house on a few acres. Maybe we could even have a dog and a cat. We both have plenty of friends and family to visit over the holidays, and we are not lacking for things to keep us entertained. Even though I have everything that I could hope for in a relationship, I was understandably upset last night when I found out that my girlfriend does not.

After having dinner with two of our close friends (one of which is expecting her first baby this August), my somber girlfriend turned to me and asked, "Do you think you'll ever change your mind? Do you think you'll ever want kids?" My heart sunk. We have had this conversation before, the first time being over a year and a half ago when we first met. At that time I informed her of my views and feelings on the subject, and she accepted them. After that, the subject popped up about once every two or three months. Like a stubborn pimple, I could never predict when it would flare up; most of the time it stayed hidden beneath the placid surface. Last night that harmless pimple erupted into a raging abscess.

As I have in the past, I stuck to my guns. My genes aren't the greatest, I'm addicted to dangerous things like skydiving and BASE jumping, and I think that there are already enough people in the world. I like going out with my girlfriend and our friends and drinking until we can't see straight. I like to go off into nature with the person I love and be alone in our happiness. Finally,

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