I would love to have kids in a perfect world but one thing that really puts me off from having them is that it's a huge gamble.

You could have a special needs baby, and even if the baby was born healthy it could develop health problems at anytime. It could get into an accident and become disabled or be killed at any time. Not only that they could grow up to be a deadbeat or addict which would most likely become your burden. Even if they don't have something major wrong with them they may not want a close relationship with you anyway and at that point you might as well not had them. I have seen a lot of posts from people working in nursing homes saying the majority of the time the patients don't get a lot of visitors, so saying "I don't want to be alone when I'm old" is a moot point.

Besides that risk, the world is already overpopulated and experiencing global warming and dwindling resources. It could end up being pretty miserable for the next generations.

Also, being pregnant sounds horrible and obviously painful at the end. There is also the risk of putting your body through the pregnancy. I have seen at least 3 news stories of women dying of embolisms while pregnant (which I think are related to being pregnant, may not be though.) And of course the general wear and tear that affects the appearance of your body.

Have you thought about adopting or fostering? I know adopting can be an expensive long process but a lot of foster programs offer adoption and is much cheaper if not practically free. I always thought it would make me feel good to give someone a happy life that otherwise might not rather than have my own.

So anyways, sorry for the rambling. I'm not trying to make you feel bad for wanting children or start some big debate over the points I made. I'm just telling you some of my thoughts on the subject. I have been a fence sitter and I know it's a really hard decision to make when you are happy,healthy and financially able to have kids. I did a lot of research on the subject before I decided to be childfree. You can start with googling "I hate being a mom" and some forums will come up with women having open and honest discussion about motherhood.