I can relate to this a lot. My dad left when I was a child. Without my mom's knowledge, he sold the house while my mom and I were on vacation, leaving us homeless for a year. Her next husband turned out to have a second family in a different country and when she found out he beat her into the ER while I was right there in the room. My half-brother came from that marriage and when my mom was at work (after husband #2 left she became a single working mom) he often threatened and chased me with a chef's knife. The list goes on.

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I'm now following a two-year master's degree with good chances for getting a PhD position and have been in a stable and happy relationship for 9 years now (at 27 y/o I'm a relatively late student). I have thought about that 'second chance at what life could have been like if my childhood had been better' reasoning. But, since I'm already doing pretty well, having expectations like that are a tough burden to put on any child and will force me to give up on some of my dreams as well. So every time I feel that hormonal, biological clock ticking I think about it rationally for a bit and come to the same conclusion every time: I should not have kids. I want to give myself the best and most awesome life possible.