Dear Zaria: Should I have kids during a climate crisis?
Given our current climate emergency, I am struggling with the idea of having children in the future. How do I navigate this, and what are your thoughts on bringing more children into this uncertain world?
Today I set out to answer one of the most critical and pressing questions of our time: is it safe, moral or otherwise, to bring children into the world at this point?
I’m sure this is not the first time in our species’ history that we’ve grappled with such a question.
Humans have long suffered from environmental circumstances that make bringing children — so innocent and helpless — seem antithetical to the conditions of a particular social climate.
Fifty years ago, the threat was nuclear war or just war. Maybe hundreds of years ago, it was famine, mass migration, or slavery.
The point I’m trying to make is: it makes sense that, as humans, we are assessing whether or not the environment we currently inhabit is suitable for more human life. After all, we are still animals with a somewhat primal desire to procreate. Therefore, it is, perhaps, in our DNA to always be doing this kind of temperature checking of our surroundings, regardless of whether we’re talking about childbearing.
If you choose to have children, being an emotionally available and present parent is more valuable than constantly worrying about making the correct decisions or doing the “right” thing.
Here’s what I will say: this will always be a personal choice.
Unlike the anti-abortion laws resurfacing across the country, I feel strongly that individuals should have the right to do what they’d like with their bodies.
It is not my responsibility — as someone with a uterus, climate advocate, steward of the land or environment, or otherwise — to tell you what to do with it, regardless of my worldview.
I could say no. I could say that the world is unstable, as it has always been, and that bringing life into it seems wrong and maybe even antithetical to what it means to be a parent — to protect and guard that which is still incapable of protecting and defending itself.
In this case, the threat of environmental collapse due to climate change is the threat. But, ultimately, there have always been, currently are, and will continue to be all sorts of dangers you cannot protect a child from.
To use your words, our world lives in constant uncertainty. Not to sound fatalistic, but a meteor could strike us all dead in an instant, and, in this case, it wouldn’t matter how much planning and contemplating we’d done because, ultimately, we are simply always at the mercy of external forces that we cannot control.
Therefore, a better question is: well, why do you want to have kids?
For what purpose do you intend to bring a child into this world at all?
Like with all things, the why is more important than the how.
A much more significant issue, than perhaps even climate change, plagues the conversation around childbearing.
There are countless children already, currently without parents. Some have physical parents that are emotionally absent; others are orphaned entirely, navigating through a foster care and adoption system that some might argue is altogether backward, violent, and oppressive.
What of the kids that already exist and still face the threat of a vulnerable climate and uncertain future?
How can we first support these children before inundating those that don’t even exist yet with climate anxiety and worry?
I’ll leave you with this:
If you choose to have children, being an emotionally available and present parent is more valuable than constantly worrying about making the correct decisions or doing the “right” thing.
Regardless of the circumstances, it’s impossible to be the perfect parent because, like the environment we reflect, we constantly evolve, discovering “imperfections” that will invariably impact those around us.
Regardless of your decision, commit to simply being a decent human being — supporting the lives of those around you, trying to learn alongside one another, and building community.
The African proverb, it takes a village to raise a child, exists for a reason.
I sincerely hope this helps.
Warmly,
Zaria
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