Having a child is something special. For many, being a parent is the best feeling in the world. My kids are a huge part of my life, and one thing I felt was very important was to give them brothers and sisters to grow up with. Many parents want their children to have siblings, however, the desire to have more children and for your existing children to have siblings shouldn’t outweigh the realistic concerns that come with having another child.
You’re behind on bills
Children are expensive. If you don’t cloth diaper and breastfeed, the cost of diapers and formula alone is enough to put someone in the poor house. Babies are not cheap. If you’re behind on your bills, adding a baby to the mix is only going to complicate matters further. You don’t want to be broke while you’re pregnant, or when you have a newborn baby. If you’re behind on your bills, get caught up and stay afloat for a while before you decide to add to your family.
You’re having relationship troubles
Regardless of what some women (and even some men) may think, a baby will never fix a relationship. If you are having relationship issues, it’s best to iron those out before making the decision to add to your family. A new pregnancy and a baby can be very stressful on both mom and dad. Throw in marital issues and you have a recipe for disaster. Your children and future children deserve to be in an emotionally healthy and stable family.
You’re on government assistance
There is nothing wrong with needing a hand up when you’re down on your luck, but planning a baby on the government’s dime is wrong on every level. If you’re currently on a government assistance program (WIC, Medicaid, Food Stamps, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, etc.) then you absolutely should not be trying to get pregnant. If you aren’t on assistance but plan to go on assistance when you get pregnant or once the baby is born, the same applies to you. There’s nothing wrong with needing help, but there is something wrong with abusing the help that is given.
You have no way of paying for your medical care
If you do not have insurance or do not plan on purchasing insurance, and have no way of paying for your medical care while pregnant then you should put off having another baby until this situation changes. If you are unable to pay for your medical needs while pregnant, without the use of sliding-scale clinics and Medicaid, you need to work on building some financial stability before you bring another child into this world. There are many things that can go wrong during a pregnancy and birth. The last thing you want to do is be unprepared to handle those things.
You’re already exhausted
If you’re already exhausted caring for the children you already have then you might want to reconsider adding to your family just yet. Another baby might sound simple enough, but a new baby is just like starting over. You’ll be back to midnight feedings and 3am diaper changes in nine months or less. If you already feel like you’re running on empty, you may want to hold off until things start to settle down a bit.
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