"'When you look into your baby's eyes,' my friend Sarah once said to me, 'that will become your Tibet.'  I have no doubt that looking into one's own baby's eyes is many inexpressibly wonderful things, but one thing it is not is Tibet."
-Selfish, Shallow, and Self-Absorbed: Sixteen Writers on the Decision Not to Have Kids by Meghan Daum

"But to me, the lack of desire to have a child is innate.  It exists outside of my control.  It is simply who I am and I can take neither credit nor blame for all that it may or may not signify.  But the decision to honor that desire, to find a way to be whole or my own terms even if it means facing the judgment, scorn, and even pity of mainstream society, is a victory.  It's a victory I celebrate every day."
-Selfish, Shallow, and Self-Absorbed: Sixteen Writers on the Decision Not to Have Kids by Meghan Daum

"I decided to take the love I'd have for a child and give it to myself instead."
-Selfish, Shallow, and Self-Absorbed: Sixteen Writers on the Decision Not to Have Kids by Meghan Daum

"But herein lies the rub: as it stands now, I suspect that my commitment to and delight in parenting would be formidable that it would take precedence over anything and everything else in my life; that my mastery of motherhood would eclipse my need for - or ability to achieve - success in any other arena.  Basically, I'm afraid of my own competence."
-Selfish, Shallow, and Self-Absorbed: Sixteen Writers on the Decision Not to Have Kids by Meghan Daum