So, Do We Really Have to Have Children?

Many people were heartbroken by the story of a pregnant elephant whose mouth was filled with fireworks. The elephant tried to ease the pain by submerging its mouth in water, yet refused rescue and died. By witnessing the mother elephant’s pain, the vast majority of us showed empathy.

My heart ached deeply as well. And I wondered why she chose death. Elephants are highly intelligent animals with rich emotional lives. I think her decision was based on the realization that there was no future for her baby or for her. It seems she chose death because she knew that even if she survived to give birth, her life and that of her baby would continue to be marked by constant hunger and exhausting days.

It’s the same for humans. When we feel we have nothing to give our children, or when we think that even if our children are born, they’ll have to live in pain just like us, we give up. What kind of times are we living in now…? People—and even animals—are filled with despair because the environment is no longer suitable for having and raising children. Species reproduction is a natural order and law of the universe, yet it is being shaken. I, too, have chosen not to have children. There is no clean air for our children to breathe, the water is becoming polluted, and the competition for survival is at its worst... What could I possibly offer them that would make me want to have children...

Returning to the story of the elephant, is the farmer who set off the firecrackers rich? Is he an abuser? No. He’s probably a farmer who supports about ten of the poorest children. He set off the firecrackers to keep his own family from going hungry. If you were to actually arrest him, you’d likely feel a different kind of pity for him.

The reason nature has become such a mess is ultimately that the Earth’s population is too large. Since so many people need to survive, the economy always takes priority to feed them; under the guise of economic growth, nature is being destroyed, and the waste produced by that massive population has reached a point where the Earth can no longer handle it. Because of all those people, animals now have nowhere to live.

Until 20 years ago, birth control and population control were key public health programs, and I myself was part of the family planning team within the World Bank’s public health division. However, starting in the mid-2000s, family planning programs began to disappear as the working-age population was deemed crucial for economic growth. Claiming that economic growth would halt if people stopped having children, authorities actually began encouraging people to have more children.

When humans are viewed through the economic lens of “utility,” the focus shifts to increasing the working-age population—so much so that governments even offer financial incentives to encourage childbirth. But what happens next? The government isn’t going to raise these children, and women aren’t mere baby-making machines.

Family planning is a program that goes hand in hand with maternal health; in societies that encourage high birth rates, women’s health is ignored. In India and Pakistan, the population is growing exponentially, yet women’s health is neglected. At the same time, as the population grows exponentially, animals are dying from a lack of habitat and food, being poached, nature is being destroyed, and the Earth is turning into a garbage dump.

With the abandonment of Family Planning programs, humans’ natural enemies are mosquitoes and viruses. I can’t help but think that the coronavirus may have arrived to regulate the population—which has reached a level the Earth can barely sustain—and to allow the Earth to breathe again. While human greed and desire have certainly contributed to the Earth’s deterioration, the fundamental problem is that the population is simply too large. Although South Korea’s population is declining, the global population is growing at an alarming rate.

That is why I understand the mother elephant's choice and those who are choosing not to have children now. Unfortunately, we cannot see a bright future for the Earth we call home.

06/10/2020 by Dr. Lan Joo