Do I REALLY want kids?

 Have you ever sat down and asked yourself do you REALLY want kids? I find myself being stuck on that question a lot lately. Society has pushed this narrative that every woman should be having children and that we will die lonely if we don't. I love my life how it is. I don't want to selfishly have children because I don't wanna be alone or I want to leave a legacy with the man I'm with. Half of the time people are having children to "leave a legacy" with the legacy still missing. Is the legacy just leaving them with your last name and carrying your bloodline? That's the most selfish reason to have children. I don't have any voids that I feel I need to fill in my life. I love my freedom and the personality that I have now without children. Let's be honest, you change when you have children. You talk about your kids at girl nights, you can't travel much or get up and move to another city as freely as you could without children. Everything has to be planned out and you have to have help before you can make any moves. I don't think that is the life I want for myself. I feel like if my friends have kids or if a family member has them then what do I need them for? My brother is having his first baby and now I REALLY feel like I don't need to have any. I have a nephew on the way and he can be all the baby I need. I know I would make an amazing mother if it were to happen but I try to prevent it from happening at ALL COST. It didn't really hit me until I turned 27 that I didn't want kids. I don't know if this is just something women go through in their 20s or if this is something that I really do not want. It's a really huge commitment that lasts a lifetime. Even when your mental state isn't well you still have to be a parent. You have to do it broke, depressed, sick and the list goes on. That doesn't sound fun to me at all even with the father in the home. It could be because I grew up as an only child in the home since my brother lived with his dad most of the time. I've always been able to go into my room and be alone to get myself together. Kids will come in the bathroom with you and sit on your lap while you're sitting on the toilet. While that's really cute, I'm the type of person who likes to isolate to give myself time to reset. If you are a parent, how do you handle your mental health when you need to reset? I would love to hear your techniques and even your thoughts on how you feel as a mother. For the women without children, do you feel like you REALLY want children or are you just scared that you will regret it later in life? I think this topic needs to be touched on more. It is okay to be HONEST with yourself as a parent or as a woman who doesn't want children.