Life feels unimportant

[LouLo72]

Does anyone else feel that a life without children is unimportant?

Been told before that “you’ll never know love until you’ve had a child”.

Well, I don’t have children (through choice) but it’s becoming more apparent that it’s the most important and amazing thing to do, which leads me to believe my life isn’t worth much.

That must have been really difficult and painful.

Your life is still valuable. I hope you haven't spent this evening tormenting yourself.

It won't always feel like it does right now

Pregnancy announcements can be so tough

A lot of amazing replies on here from people sharing the positives of being child-free but if you’re still feeling deeply unhappy, maybe that inner voice is worth listening to? Gently, do you think you might want a child deep down? Your pain is very evident through your posts. 43 isn’t automatically too late. You could look into fertility testing to see where you stand. There are options like IVF, adoption, fostering etc. Even just exploring what’s possible might help you feel more in control?

Be kind to yourself this weekend. Do you have anything nice planned? x

To be honest, @Mysteise, I’m starting to wonder that about the OP too.

If I’m honest, sometimes I can’t work out if it’s a child I want or something to fill a deep void 🤷🏼‍♀️ I’ve never felt broody and I feel a lot like I’m missing out on something and it’s almost like wanting that feeling without the responsibility of a child. Does that even make sense?!

Kind of, yes. It feels as if everyone you know is either having kids or getting excited about people having kids, & you want something in your life that’s as big as that?

Nail. On. Head.

Have you considered getting counselling to help you work out what that thing might be for you, & also to recognise that your life is as important as anyone else’s?

Life is inherently... not unimportant, but without a specific meaning beyond what meaning we give it, really.

Maybe for some people that's having children, but there's no universal law that says that's what it needs to be. Think about how many people have lived and died on the planet, and how many billions are alive today - that should really give a sense of perspective that one individual deciding whether or not to have children is pretty insignificant and irrelevant in the grand scheme of things. So it comes down to what you want to do with your life.