Could you see your life just as easily with children as without?  What if you're not cut out for parenthood? What if you grow lonely in your old age? Or what if you have a loving partner, but you disagree on this choice? Deciding between parenthood and a child-free life requires clarity about your fears and deepest desires — no easy task. This episode, psychotherapist and author of the book, The Baby Decision, Merle Bombardieri, helps us get clear. She discusses minimizing regret, normalizing feeling 'stuck' and why waiting to have a baby at 38 may be best.  Want more about the decision to have kids?  <a href="https://www.npr.org/2026/03/24/nx-s1-5751175/many-women-dont-want-kids-and-for-good-reason"target="_blank" >Many women don't want kids. And for good reason.</a><a href="https://www.npr.org/2025/06/25/1263527152/its-been-a-minute-birth-rate"target="_blank" >Why are people freaking out about the birth rate?</a> Support Public Media. <a href="https://plus.npr.org/"target="_blank" >Join NPR Plus.</a> Follow Brittany on Instagram: <a href="https://www.instagram.com/bmluse/?hl=en"target="_blank" >@bmluse</a> For handpicked podcast recommendations every week, subscribe to NPR’s Pod Club newsletter at <a href="https://www.npr.org/podclub"target="_blank" >npr.org/podclub</a>. See <a href="https://pcm.adswizz.com">pcm.adswizz.com</a> for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences. <a href="https://www.npr.org/about-npr/179878450/privacy-policy">NPR Privacy Policy</a>

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