One Good Reason to Have a Child

“Give me one good reason to have a child,” two of my friends recently asked me on separate occasions. Each had been married for about two years and were now thinking about whether or not to start a family. They could come up with many reasons not to have kids: the cost, the declining condition of our planet, the total life upheaval and the loss of personal freedom among others. But they weren’t so sure about reasonsfor having a child.

They aren’t alone. A quick search on the internet gives me...