Have you considered adoption?

>>17144493
Not really, that could be an option though. I'm not the very emotional type though and I almost fear I wouldn't have that same connection with the child as I would have if it were "my own".

>>17144485
I'm stuck in the same boat. I love children and work in child care but I could never justify passing down my horrible self defeating mental illness. I live in hell every day so I can't feel good about birthing a child with my headspace into the world. It's so depressing because I want to be a mommy so bad but I never can be.

>>17144548
Shit :/ Maybe adoption is the way to go for people like us then.

I was diagnosed with BPD when I was 17, but now my doctors are considering that I may be schizophrenic. and my mother has PTSD and depression. plus my bf has a family history of depression, and both of ours have a history of alcoholism

no way we're passing our fucked up genes, but neither of us want children regardless. but we agreed that if we ever changed our minds on kids we would adopt

>>17144513

Why would people adopt anyway. The whole point of raising a child is preserving your lineage. >>17144513 is probably a liberal cuck that wants you to adopt a chinese or african child.

>family members with depression and alcoholism and what I suspect is a trace of BPD
>genetically inclined to have poor skin usually eczema
>despite mental and physical traits, most family members have a history of working hard and enduring tough living situations)

I have a mental illness, they run in my family, and I have a child.

However, over the years, I went to therapy, stood my ground that I am not going to make the same mistakes or avoid/deny problem behavior in my child that my mom did with me and my siblings.

My mother herself is schizoaffective. My dad has something... unsure but he refuses help. My mom was just a wrecking ball emotional vampire of a mother. When I was 13 and started hearing voices and becoming so frustrated that I really just wanted to die, I'd tell my mom and she'd just say "Noooo, you don't feel that way." then when I'd insist, she'd literally start humming a song and tuning me out. Then I started acting out in school and was finally noticed (got into therapy at 15). I went to therapy until I was 22. And it just set my life right.

Now I'm a behavior therapist. I have a 7 year old. She has childhood anxiety and moderate sensory issues. At first, my worst fears surfaced. That my daughter will be cursed with this disgusting plague.

cont.

>>17144893
But, I just turned that negative thinking around. Through reflection, I know that if I was helped earlier, I would have not had to suffer with this disorder for the time that I did. If my mom heard me, I would not have struggled.

And now it is my turn to be the mother my mother was not. I'm not going to let my disorder control my life, and I will do everything in my power to make sure my daughter will not struggle with herself like I did and like my mom still does.

Living with mental illness and being a parent is not easy, but it gave me the greatest push to better myself and teach my daughter emotional intelligence, self awareness, etc. We've seen a family therapist for over a year now, and it's paying off so well.

She gives me new ideas to help my daughter cope, and my daughter is like a whole different kid than she was from ages 2 to 6. She came out of her shell. A lot of her anxiety behaviors stopped (insomnia, severe nail biting, panic attacks). I have an awesome kid that is learning excellent behavior tactics, emotional awareness and confidence building skills at a young age.

I honestly could not be happier with the growth and outcome of my kid.

I consider her more prepped and ready for society than other "normal" kids that don't experience personal mental struggles and live to tell the tale.

>>17144485
>>17144897
In all honestly, I believe that if you have a kid as someone with mental illness it's selfish, your genes aren't satisfactory and should not be passed on. It's not "survival of the fittest" any longer, yes, but if people kept that in mind and only produced healthy children humans would be more beautiful, healthier, and would live longer on average.

>>17144918
In a utopian reality, that would be wonderful, but unfortunately, this is Planet Earth. And we make the best of what we have.

>>17144485
Having children is always selfish, the pain in the world always outweighs the joy. Not coming into existence is always better than being born, so the best thing to do would be to not have children, even disregarding your fmaily history.

>>17144697
I'm the polar opposite of a liberal (if you mean the American, backwards way of defining "liberal") and don't plan on getting cucked. That's one of my problems with adoption too, honestly.

>>17144897
Thank you for sharing that, it gave me some insight.

All of you would do well to keep in mind that certain mental illnesses are far from the worst things people regularly pass on to their kids.

Think about the fact that you're even considering this issue.
Many people out there are far too stupid and/or callous to have such concern for it.
And we consider those people normal and sane. All those imbeciles falling for nigerian prince scams, believing the world is flat, sitting on welfare, having 10 kids and smoking crack, joining gangs, shooting cops, filling prisons, etc: they're normal?

Compared to that shit, depression is nothing. Consider your character, your intellect, your empathy. Your judgement and talents. Etc.
A higher risk of mental illness is just 1 factor. You have to consider the whole picture.