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Wow! Loaded question. My hubby and I are going to be 46yrs old really soon.........we have adopted six times and are awaiting and hoping for a call for a seventh baby.
Here are some thoughts for you. Do you enjoy being with children on a long term basis? Do you have children in your home now...taking them to events, etc. Are you, or have you been, Girl Scout leaders, 4-H leaders, etc. How much did you enjoy this?
One thing I'd like to stress, is that 'to not have children is alright, and better to decide this, than to have children because everyone else does, etc'. This is such a strong belief, I'm afraid within this country....and there are a lot of people who truly should not have children. It's not an easy decision, either.
Having children makes one consider their own immortality, of course. Sometimes, this isn't a very comfortable feeling either. You tend to notice the graying hair more, the extra weight that some of us have (oh, yes).....and the 'fishwoman syndrome' ---as I call it. That's where you find yourself yelling at your kids a lot and wonder 'how did I ever get to this point????!!!!"
My hubby and I dated for three years before marriage, and we were married three years before adopting our first baby. (We were 23 at the time.) Our agency required that we be married for three years before we could submit our homestudy.
Hope I have given you more food for thought. Raising kids is not for the 'faint of heart'. It's more difficult now, I think, than it was for our first kids back in the '80's. It can be a very thankless job.....but there can also be times....late at night, when you realize your life couldn't have been this great without them.
Sincerely,
Linny
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