How Many Kids?

I have four sisters. I now have three girls of my own. I am 99.999% sure our brood is complete.

I'm not sure why, but I'm endlessly fascinated by the question of how many: How many kids? How many kids do people have or want or long for? How many kids did people have in their family growing up and how did this affect their desires for their own future family? How many people want zero kids, none at all, and why? How many people want as many kids as they possibly can have physically and afford financially, and why?

Is there a right number of kids? Is it irresponsible to have too many? Is it selfish to have none? Is it desirable, and somehow morally sound, to have a moderate number of progeny?

I have no answers here. I'm just curious. Curious enough to ask all of you.

How many kids do you have? How many do you want? If you do not want children, why not? If you do want children, why? Do you think some people should have more kids and some people fewer? Do you think there are any hard and fast rules here? How did the size of the family you grew up in affect (or not affect) your visions of your current or future family?