Have children, or have a pet?

There are men and women of all ages who think they want children but they really want a pet, a living creature who will love them unconditionally.

They aren't prepared for and don't want the real responsibility of a real child, with the crying in the middle of the night to get her diaper changed, the terrible twos, the sporadic bouts of defiance, the pain of watching them learn hard lessons about bullying and other childhood and teen issues, etc.

It's much more likely that someone under 15-20 really wants a pet not a child than the same individual at age 25+. By their mid 20s, most adults without children have a much better appreciation of what it means to raise a child than they did when they were still children or teenagers themselves.

Having said that, I have no doubt that there are a few 9-year-olds that have the maturity to know they want a child and the maturity to raise one, and the maturity to make an informed decision to forgo their own educational and financial opportunities for the sake of their child. But very few.