I just watched a discussion (four philosophers!) on German TV about whether it is ethical to have children in the age of climate warming and population explosion. One of the philsophers had written some article putting forward the thesis that the biggest personal contribution in the fight against climate change is to remain childless.

My first thought when I watched was: What a highbrow nonsense! Nobody remains childless because she wants to do something against climate warming.
You have a child or not because this is a very personal preference. For some people, children are just an integral and essential part of their life; a life without children would be a quite unhappy, even meaningless life . Others - like me - never had the slighest desire to be a father, just the contrary (children cause a lot of noise, they get on my nerves, are expensive, are life-long shackles you can never get rid of even if the kid turns out to become an obnoxious brat, etc...).

The decision "Children: yes or no" is not made in the prefrontal cortex, it is not rational, but comes from the depth of your personality and character. Of course people invent *a posteriori* reasons for their decisions, including the decision to have children or not. But these reasons were not at the root of the decision. And a lot, maybe even the majority of people do not *decide* to have children, those are just the 'collateral damage' of a few minutes of fun and extasy.

The second thought that crossed my mind: If somebody really wanted to have a child but convinced herself to remain childless because of climate change, it would be a really stupid decision, because the two sides - the decision and its effect - are totally out of proportion : on the personal side it would be a big loss, a much much bigger loss than, say, refraining from flying to Spain for holidays, or reducing my meat consumption. On the other side this decision has virtually zero impact on climate change. We have a huge impact on the personal side (without children, she gives up part of her happiness) and a non-existing impact on the ecological side. I'd say that this glaring disproportion renders all philosophical / ethical arguments invalid.

What do you think: Is it ethical to have children? Does this decision - if it is a decision- have political implications?
Or is this a private and personal decision that is nobody's business (except those individuals who combine their genes to make a new human being ; and maybe their families)?