One of the biggest decisions anybody makes in their lives is whether or not to have kids. Mind you, for many, many folks out there, it’s a no-brainer — the only questions are when, how many, and with whom. But for many others, it’s a much pricklier choice.
And it’s a fair question! Not everybody feels the deep-down conviction to procreate. They just don’t, and that’s not wrong. It’s their life to live how they like.
However, few on either side of the equation question whether it’s right to have kids for the kids’ sake.
Raphael Samuel of Mumbai, India, wants everyone to know that he didn’t ask to be born.
So much so that he’s suing his parents over it, according to reports. Raphael is an anti-natalist, someone who believes parents have no right to bring kids into the world without their permission.
However, Raphael also says that he’s on good terms with his parents.
“I love my parents, and we have a great relationship, but they had me for their joy and their pleasure,” he told ThePrint . “My life has been amazing, but I don’t see why I should put another life through the rigamarole of school and finding a career, especially when they didn’t ask to exist.”
“I want to tell all Indian kids that they don’t owe their parents anything,” he said.
“Other Indian people must know that it is an option not to have children, and to ask your parents for an explanation as to why they gave birth to you.”
In a YouTube video, Raphael takes issue with India’s “myth” of respecting elders, saying that people should respect actions instead.
“Has that person treated you well?” he asked . “Is that person giving you freedom? Is that person encouraging your growth?”
“Your parents are two people at the age of 20-25 who just wanted a good night together and then they had you,” he added.
Raphael is far from the only anti-natalist in India.
There is a small movement there countering the nation’s motherhood culture. Groups like “Childfree India” and “Childfree by Choice” have sprung up, but some make other arguments than children not giving consent to be born.
For some, an environmental awareness is attached.
The child-free movement consists mostly of higher educated, upper- or middle-class people in India, and many of them see going childless as a way of helping the world.
“Due to overpopulation, we have more consumers of natural resources, and we are destroying nature for our self-interests,” child-free supporter Akash Varia told ThePrint.
“I want to reduce my carbon footprint and do my best to improve the quality of life.”
That view has been backed up by scientific studies.
A 2017 study found that having one fewer child was one of the most effective ways of curbing greenhouse gas emissions, to the tune of 58.6 tonnes of carbon dioxide per year on average for developed countries.
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For others, it’s about reducing suffering in general.
“Once she’s married, a woman is expected to prove her fertility and keep producing children till a boy is born,” Alok Vejpeyi, head of knowledge management for the Population Foundation of India, told ThePrint.
“The problem is families continue having children without considering the negative consequences of having a child without planning.”
Well, that would have saved Raphael’s parents a lawsuit! But what do they really have to say about their son’s decision to sue?
Raphael’s mother recently spoke out about her son’s decision to sue, and voiced her support for him.
She told The Mirror , “I must admire my son’s temerity to want to take his parents to court knowing both of us are lawyers. If Raphael could come up with a rational explanation as to how we could have sought his consent to be born, I will accept my fault.”
That’s likely on everyone’s mind — it seems we will all have to wait and see how this story unfolds.
h/t ThePrint
