This sounds like a crazy question, but it is a question that many women face as they age without a steady partner or spouse. If life has been good for years without children, are children a requirement or rite of passage that all women must experience? The question could easily be answered no – not all women have to raise a family to feel complete, but some women think they want to live an independent life only to realize years later that children were indeed supposed to be a part of their life journey. 

Children, Motherhood and Western Living
There are thousands of reasons to have children and thousands of reasons to skip it for the time being or forever. As a teenager one of the only things I was certain about was my need to have children. I wanted to raise my children to be different than my peers – open-minded, color-blind and at peace with body and mind. But, I was one of the minorities in my graduating class. Everyone else was planning trips to the beach or Europe. College plans were rampant and few of my peers even had long-term relationships to worry about so they hopped off to college with a desire that could only be quenched by education and experience. 

Today, I have four children ranging in age from 16 to 9 and many of my peers are just starting their families. I couldn’t imagine just starting a family at nearly 40, but my peers couldn’t image starting a family as early as I did. 

This is where we see the true answer to the question. Children are not a requirement of life; they are not a rite of passage, but they are a part of life for many people. The time when children enter the picture will vary widely. Some of my peers have three or four children in high school and some are just celebrating the first smile.