Please stop saying "you'll feel differently when you're older."

I was born in 1991. I am 24 years, 3 months, and 26 days, and in that time, I have learned a great deal about myself. I know my dreams and desires. I know my strengths and weaknesses. I know what I love, and what I do not. I know whether or not I want to be a father someday; I do not.

I am not an old man by any stretch, but I feel that most, by my age, have a rough idea what they want their future to look like - the American dream of a split level home that shares a large back lot with an adjacent home that houses an unhappy wife who likes to sun-bathe topless and shoot bedroom eyes across they way while you grill with your "world's best dad" apron, and you manage to avert your gaze for you are a holy and cannot be tempted by her curves.

I paint this picture facetiously, but my point is clear - I have a clear picture of my future and what I want out of life, and children are nowhere in it. I have a diverse set of reasoning ranging from mental illness that I do not wish to pass on, to a desire to enjoy the world and its offerings with my wife, unencumbered by potty breaks and sticky car doors, to the mere fact that there are too many people on this planet as is, and if I were to ever decide I have a need for a tiny loud roommate who eats all my food doesn't pay rent and takes all my wife's attention, I would adopt the little bugger.

Often I am met with the rebuttal "you're only 24, you're not supposed to want kids yet." Actually, yeah, I am. Other men and women my age may not want kids AT my age, but they sure as hell know whether or not they eventually want them...and I don't.

So please, for me, and for the sake of everyone else who is genuinely sick of hearing it, quit saying "you'll change your mind," quit asking for us to support WHY we don't want kids, and quit trying to fit us into your perception of the world wherein everyone is pre-programmed with a permanent and resolute paternal/maternal instinct. Seriously...just stop.