Childless by choice

I read an interesting article this morning at: To bear or not to bear? Childless by choice ...And their lives are far from empty.

I have to admit, that's one of those topics that I've never really given much thought to, but when it's presented in a way that captures my attention like this article has, I find myself pondering quite a bit over what life might be like if I were 'one of those' people who chose to be childless.

I can't imagine life without my children and I can't imagine having ever even entertaining the thought of not having them. I'm not saying it's wrong by any means, just that it's one of those things I just can't wrap my mind around. Kind of like being a lesbian - I just don't get it!

I'm sure there are many 'parents' who didn't bear children of their own, but have stepped nicely into the roll of parent by having married a parent.

Know anyone like that?

I would think it's terribly challenging to step into the roll of being parent to a child that belongs to someone else and now that I think about it, my brother is the "father figure" to two children that belong to another man and he handles it nicely.

Are you like me and think it would be difficult to become a parent to children that way after having never been a parent before?

I'd love to hear some tales of Parenting by Choice.