Having a pet in no way substitutes for having children- not if you really, truly desire children. And if you've never wanted your own child, you can't really comprehend how powerful that feeling is. So that 'suggestion' just doesn't fly. That said, there are other means to having children than having biological ones if you don't feel like taking the risk of rolling those genetic dice.
Now that I've had mine, I could never imagine my life without them. Had my husband and I known 15yrs ago that we both carried the gene for CF though, we probably would not have taken that risk. It makes me feel 'disloyal' to my children to even put that into words- and it's not a reflection on our lives now, since I couldn't imagine things any different at this point. My babies are my life! But if we knew then, our lives would have likely taken a different course.
It would have been heartbreaking for me to find out though... I know how badly I wanted children. I cannot judge anyone else for their choices, everyone has to make the decision that is right for them and ultimately live with their choices.
Now that I've had mine, I could never imagine my life without them. Had my husband and I known 15yrs ago that we both carried the gene for CF though, we probably would not have taken that risk. It makes me feel 'disloyal' to my children to even put that into words- and it's not a reflection on our lives now, since I couldn't imagine things any different at this point. My babies are my life! But if we knew then, our lives would have likely taken a different course.
It would have been heartbreaking for me to find out though... I know how badly I wanted children. I cannot judge anyone else for their choices, everyone has to make the decision that is right for them and ultimately live with their choices.