- Some people are rethinking whether to have children because of the climate crisis.
- Over half the people in a recent survey said environmental concerns made them reconsider having kids.
Amanda Opuszynski, 35, is trying to get pregnant with her first child. But amid the excitement and frustrations of trying to conceive, she is navigating another concern: deep worry about how the climate crisis will affect the world her child grows up in. Sometimes, Opuszynski even wonders whether having a baby is the right choice at all.
"It's really scary to imagine the way things could be, the general uncertainty of it all," she told Insider. "I'm trying to weigh that fear against hope."
Opuszynski isn't alone. Last year, climate-related disasters reached record levels, with wildfires, hurricanes, and heat waves causing billions of dollars in damage. That global turmoil is affecting families on the most personal level.
In a poll of 2,800 people, more than half the respondents said they were reconsidering having kids or having more kids because of climate concerns. Others — about 26% — said they were considering adoption instead of having biological children because of climate concerns.
Bailey, 27, is among those who have changed their family planning because of climate concerns. She asked to go by her first name to protect her privacy.
"I am OK with being a dog mom, but if my partner really wanted to have children, I would consider adoption," she said.
A tense conversation
Choices about family planning are always fraught but even more so when family members have different views about the climate emergency and the importance of preparing for a grim future.
Bailey's mom simply can't understand her daughter's decisions: the big ones, like not having a child, and the smaller ones, like her insistence on recycling and eating vegan.
"It has taken me a long time to accept that my values don't actually align with my family," she said.
For Opuszynski, the friction is even closer to home. Her husband, Daniel, has two biological sons from a previous marriage. He would prefer not to have any more children because he has deep concerns about providing for his kids in a world where there are fewer resources and more instability.
"He feels a lot of fear that he won't be able to protect them or provide them with basic resources as things get bad," Opuszynski said.
Daniel is more open to adopting, but Opuszynski has a strong desire for a biological child. She's been thinking about the reason for that a lot lately.
"Do I want this because I'm a woman, and it's socially ingrained in me that you're not a complete woman until you're a biological mother?" she said.
A more mainstream concern
When Opuszynski got married more than two years ago, her friends thought that Daniel was extreme in his concerns about the environment and the influence they had on his family planning.
"Now, I find they're much more receptive," Opuszynski said. "I have had friends put off having children for similar reasons."
Bailey said she believed the more people learned about the climate crisis, the more it would weigh on major life decisions.
"If my mom would have had more exposure to the resources to learn more about environmental concerns, she would have chosen a different path for us," she said.
Opuszynski's mother insists that every generation has its challenges — whether it's war, famine, or social change. People have continued to have babies regardless, she says.
"I can see both sides," Opuszynski said. "I feel a little stuck in the middle."
An uncertain future
Parents never know what the future will hold, but the climate crisis is making that feeling more acute for people like Opuszynski.
"We have no idea what kind of world that child will grow up in," she said. "Not knowing how things will be makes it really hard to make a decision that you can't take back. I'm grieving the loss of simplicity."
She can see a future where there are dire restrictions on resources and she regrets having a child to support, but she can also see one where people work toward solutions to lessen the effects of climate change and she regrets not having a baby.
For Bailey, the answer is more clear-cut.
"There is too much outside of my control to ensure my children have a peaceful and healthy planet to grow up on," she said.