It doesn't have to be _your own_ biological children (although in 80% of cases, it probably should be), but then you have to hope that other people have been picking up the reproductive slack, or all will be for nought.
A dying society obsessed with building things is still a dying society.
Yes, it is a bad sign when an individual feels no desire to fatherhood or motherhood. It doesn't have to be biological, but it is what we're built for.
I've talked to many people my age who say they have no desire for children, or who say they don't like children. I think that is a symptom of an increasingly childless society. Fatherhood or motherhood is inconceivable when you haven't spent any time with small children as an adult.
It's seen as a hobby, like quilting.
Also, many people see housepets as interchangeable with human offspring. Housepets are housepets, tho. People with children also often have housepets and are very fond of them. They still aren't actually children. They're housepets.
It's apparently very complicated. Whatever.
