End of a taboo? These parents who regret having had children

It’s a less and less taboo feeling. According to a new study published in Plos Onenearly 14% of parents regret having had children.

Less good health

Specifically, within a cohort of Poles aged 18-40, 13.6% of parents said that if they could make the decision again, they would choose a life without children. The obtained results “show that the percentage of parents who regret being so is higher in Poland than in the United States or Germany”, deduce the authors of the study.

Parents who regret having reproduced are characterized by a higher level of negative experiences in their childhood, poorer psychological and biological health, greater guilt in the face of the judgment of others, “parental identity” non-existent and global exhaustion. Parental regret has also been associated with financial difficulties and being single, as well as having children with special needs.

“These findings indicate that parenting regret is an important social and psychological issue that should become an object of study for researchers from various disciplines and for authorities,” conclude the authors.

#MaternalRegret

This new research echoes the twitter hashtag #RegretMaternel, which last March was used by many French women to say how much they regretted having children. “Since my childhood, I have always dreamed of being a mother, I thought I had a “maternal instinct” (…) and I was waiting for that. Bah p *****, disillusionment”, she wrote on her page. And to continue a few lines further: “Jpp to have to manage meals, chouanneries, conflicts, various and varied needs, without an ounce of gratitude (…) If I had known before, I don’t know if I would have done otherwise, but frankly, I have the feel like all I’m waiting for is for them all to be big and elevated and self-sufficient. To be able to live again.”wrote for example @DocMarmottine.

In this movement, many personalities, such as Chimène Badi or Thomas Pesquet, now assume not to want children.