Must Read Isaac Fitzgerald on Never Having Kids — www.esquire.com Whenever I spend some time, even a little bit of it, goofing off with a friend or family member's kid, I can see the small respite it gives to the parents. And let’s not forget my own selfishness. I feel a lightness of being—an unanchoring in my heart—that seems harder and harder to come by these days. It’s a feeling I relish. I revel in it. To be fair, in certain ways, not having a child is a very selfish act on my part: it allows me great financial freedom, the ability to travel more and focus on my own life, instead of doing my damnedest to raise a healthy little one. But the non-selfish part of not having children for me is that I can literally show up for people who need the help, especially in this country where healthcare and finances don't make it easy to raise a child. That’s absolutely a problem in this country, but a problem I alone will not be able to solve.